DUCHESS 

*OF*FEW* 


284C 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 


«».  CMJ.F- 


Duchess  of 
Few  Clothes 


COMEDY 


By 

PHILIP   PAYNE 
Author  of  "  The  Mills  of  Man  " 


RAND,  McNALLY  &  COMPANY 
'CHICAGO  NEW  YORK  LONDON 


Copyright,  iqo4 

By  PHILIP  PAYNE 

Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall 


2137589   ! 


CHAPTER  I. 

WHY  THE  PANTHEON  WAS  BUILT. 

THE  PANTHEON,  which  rises  now  a  fore 
most  wonder  of  Chicago,  was  originally 
conceived  in  the  great  mind  of  Alonzo  A. 
Farson, — it  was  the  Pallas  of  his  brain.  The 
name  he  chose  himself:  it  pleased  him  mightily, 
since  his  ear  confessed  a  liking  for  a  sonorous 
sound,  the  tinkling  cymbal  and  the  rolling  drum 
of  nomenclature.  He  had  called  his  only  daugh 
ter  Genevra  Tola,  and  his  name,  Alonzo  Alexander 
Farson,  he  always  wrote  in  full.  Contemplation 
of  his  curled  and  powdered  signature  afforded  him 
delight. 

The  winter  which  had  seen  the  building  of  the 
Pantheon  commenced,  had  been  ordained  from 
the  Creation  to  mark  the  attainment  by  the  dis 
tinguished  gentleman  of  his  sixtieth  year.  Alonzo 
Alexander's  natal  days  had  ever  been  esteemed  by 
him  as  the  cardinal  events  about  which  the  whole 
of  each  annual  procession  turned.  But  this  com- 

7 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

pletion  of  the  sixth  decade  of  his  life,  while  cele 
brated  in  a  commodious  manner,  had,  nevertheless, 
disturbed  the  serenity  of  the  satisfaction  with 
which  he  was  accustomed  to  regard  himself.  For 
the  count  of  years  had  served  to  make  him  sharply 
realize  that,  if  he  meant  to  fulfill  his  dream  to 
startle  and  to  impress  his  world  (in  other  words, 
Chicago),  he  must  be  quick  about  it,  or  death 
might  disqualify  him  before  he  had  achieved  the 
laudable  ambition. 

The  notion  of  a  monument,  vague,  indeed,  and 
unsubstantial,  but  of  a  vast  and,  as  he  phrased  it, 
"  a  Napoleonic  stupendousness  "  had  been  taking 
shape  within  his  mind  for  years.  And  the  con 
crete  result  of  much  intellectual  and  spiritual 
travail  had  been  a  hotel, — a  modern  American 
hotel.  Such  was  the  monument  instinctively 
selected  by  Alonzo  A.  to  express  his  aspiration 
and  to  perpetuate  his  memory.  He  had  resolved 
that  the  hotel  should  be  the  greatest  west  of  New 
York,  a  gigantic  granite  pile,  crammed  with  the 
latest  American  machinery  for  luxury,  and 
decorated  in  all  the  gorgeous  flamboyancy  of  the 
most  opulent  American  taste. 

A  hotel  of  such  titanesque  proportions  would 
not  only  constitute  an  adequate  exposition  of  his 

8 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

own  personality,  Alonzo  A.  had  calculated,  but  it 
would  also,  by  its  formidable  utility,  command 
Chicago's  awe:  for,  with  the  instinct  of  a  native 
of  u  Porkopolis,"  he  understood  that,  if  an  under 
taking  were  to  rank  as  great  in  the  regard  of 
Chicago,  it  must  be  possessed  of  the  dimensions 
of  the  Stockyards,  or  of  a  State  Street  department 
store. 

Truth  was,  the  gentleman,  despite  what 
inferiors  styled  his  snobbishness  and  equals  his 
pomposity,  endured  periodic  qualms  of  self- 
depreciation,  when  his  sick  egoism  questioned  if 
he  were  not  a  failure  and  suspected  lest  behind 
his  back  those  strenuous  captains  of  industry  who, 
in  Chicago,  constitute  the  world,  smiled  at  his 
futility.  Sooth,  Alonzo  A.  possessed  a  cuticle  so 
thin  that  the  contempt  of  any  man,  millionaire  or 
menial,  hurt  him  exquisitely.  The  pain  he  suf 
fered  he  brooded  over,  and  to  it  may  mainly  be 
ascribed  his  determination  to  erect  a  monument 
that  practical  men  could  not  ignore  or  Chicago 
despise. 

Alonzo  Alexander  Parson  was  tall  and  loose, 
and  in  some  aspects  much  like  unto  a  goat.  Evi 
dence  of  his  bony  structure  obtruded  through 
his  clothes,  except  at  the  waist  line,  where  the 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

lower  half  of  the  white  waistcoats  he  affected  was 
distended  by  the  genteel  paunch  accumulated  in 
a  lifetime  of  good  living.  His  countenance  was 
long  and  solemn,  and  the  white  goatee  that  stuck 
forth  from  his  chin  increased  both  the  importance 
and  solemnity  of  his  expression. 

His  carriage  was  quite  military;  that  is  to  say, 
he  strutted.  Not  pride,  however,  so  much  as  self- 
consciousness,  flung  back  his  head  and  braced  his 
back:  for,  as  he  moved,  the  figure  of  ostentation, 
he  glanced  perpetually  on  every  side  to  learn  what 
men  surmised  concerning  him.  He  stiffened  when 
he  spied  some  indication  of  respect  or  awe;  he 
shivered  imperceptibly  when  he  fancied  any  face 
expressed  a  shade  of  skepticism  or  of  ridicule. 
And  always  he  was  convinced  that  he  occupied 
the  centre  of  the  stage,  that  the  minds  of  whoso 
ever  might  chance  to  be  beholding  him,  must  of 
necessity  be  engaged  with  criticism,  approving  or 
condemnatory,  of  himself. 

Alonzo  A.  took  delight  in  the  comeliness  of  his 
features.  Women  had  believed,  or  had  declared 
them  handsome  in  his  youth,  and  he  was  himself 
persuaded  that  they  were  distinguished  now. 
Indeed,  he  was  satisfied — and  the  truth  was 
generally  admitted — that  his  dark  eyes  were  liquid 

JO 


and  engagingly  melancholy,  his  brows  worthy  a 
poet  or  an  actor,  his  snowy  mustache  and  hair  deli 
cately  soft  and  silken. 

To  be  sure,  he  was  constrained  to  acknowledge 
a  nose, — his  hand  was  always  pulling  it,  compress 
ing  its  bulb,  arresting  its  upward  aspiration.  But, 
although  indeed  it  troubled  him,  he  caressed  quite 
as  much  as  he  corrected  its  obstreperousness. 
'Twas  large;  but  all  great  men  had  been  gifted 
with  large  noses,  as  Alonzo  A.  had  studied  out. 
True,  his  own  turned  up,  exactly  where  Napoleon's 
turned  down;  yet  both  were  big  and,  therefore, 
largely  similar. 

Alonzo  A.  had  nursed  grand  visions  in  his 
youth.  He  had  been  divided  in  ambition,  whether 
to  become  a  great  actor  like  Edwin  Booth,  or  a 
great  general  like  Napoleon.  He  felt  he  could  be 
either.  Later,  in  the  enlightenment  of  years  and 
with  the  immense  shadow  of  his  monument  spread 
ing  like  a  thunder-cloud,  he  had  wisely  argued 
that  for  men  to  say  he  had  built  the  Pantheon 
would  be  enough  of  glory.  So,  secure  in  fame,  he 
could  even  afford  to  laugh  a  little  over  the  gran 
diose  yearnings  of  his  early  days,  recollecting  how, 
in  common  with  most  great  men  in  their  youth,  he 
had  harboured  a  passionate  and  morbid  soul. 


ii 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

The  lady  who  had  married  him  out  of  pure 
magnanimity,  delivered  him,  indeed,  from  his 
passion  for  the  stage;  but  other  sublimities,  which 
she  was  compelled  to  endure,  developed  in  succes 
sion.  Fortunately  she  was  blessed  with  more 
common  sense  than  sense  of  humour,  and,  while 
her  influence,  as  long  as  she  lived,  was  disposed 
wholly  towards  the  mitigation  of  the  enthusiasms 
of  her  spouse,  she  was  never  forced  by  the  power 
of  a  discriminating  perception  to  realize  the  pure 
absurdity  of  his  eccentricity.  When  in  the  period 
of  courtship  Alonzo  A.  had  dived  to  her  rescue  in 
six  inches  of  canal  water  and  mud,  she  did  smile, 
to  be  sure,  but  she  was  able  to  appreciate  heartily 
the  chivalrous  impulse  of  the  deed. 

She  continued  her  shrewd  humouring  after 
marriage,  both  out  of  policy  and  out  of  kindness. 
She  appreciated  the  position  accorded  Mr. 
Farson's  wife,  and  she  liked  spending  his  immense 
income.  But  also  she  was  tender  of  his  sensitive 
ness,  knowing  how  susceptible  and  egoistic  he  was, 
and,  if  she  had  married  him  because  he  was  the 
greatest  catch  of  her  day,  she  would  not,  for  her 
life,  have  treated  him  inconsiderately. 

iWhen  she  died,  he  grieved,  and  his  grief  was 
not  the  less  sincere,  because,  like  the  least  and  all 


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Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

of  his  emotions,  it  was  ostentatious.  He  raised  a 
costly  stone  to  her  memory  and  made  bi-weekly 
pilgrimages  to  her  tomb,  strewing  it  with  flowers 
which  he  had  watered  with  his  tears. 

Such  were  some  qualities  of  the  man  who  built 
the  Pantheon.  When  the  huge  structure  was 
complete  and  the  intricate  establishment  within  set 
running,  Alonzo  A.  felicitated  his  own  soul  and 
bored  his  acquaintances  with  accounts  of  how  the 
miracle  had  been  wrought.  And  beyond  question 
his  complacence  was  justified.  The  Pantheon  be 
came  a  vindication,  since  not  only  did  it  loom  most 
lordly  in  the  broken  sky-line  of  Chicago,  but  it  also 
proved  a  financial  success.  Mr.  Farson  was  con 
scious  of  a  new  respect  on  the  part  of  practical 
men  for  the  individual  whose  brain  had  projected 
the  great  undertaking  and  whose  money  was  in 
vested  in  so  profitable  an  institution. 


CHAPTER  II. 

VALET  TO  HIS  MIND. 

IT  was  in  the  period  when  his  mind  was  preg 
nant  with  this  grand  conception  that  Alonzo 
A.,  one  afternoon,  strode  into  a  barber  shop 
he  patronized  and  languorously  out-stretched  his 
length  in  the  padded  chair  of  his  pet  tonsorial 
artist.  To  be  shaved  delicately  by  Casey  once  a 
day,  the  man  of  teeming  intellect  valued  as  a 
sedative  as  well  as  a  luxury,  and  to  feel  the  soft 
manipulations  of  Casey's  fingers  on  his  face 
soothed  the  excitement  of  his  nerves,  he  found. 
Besides,  Alonzo  A.  appreciated  the  barber's  style 
of  conversation. 

And  Casey,  the  astute,  the  ever-smooth,  was 
well  aware  how  this  majestic  favour  might  mean 
for  him  the  opportunity  of  his  life.  He  waxed 
as  solicitous  as  was  ever  mother  for  her  babe, 
and  purred  over  his  prone  millionaire  like  a  tabby 
over  a  lone  kitten.  Casey's  touch  was  as  dainty 
as  the  brush  which  he  applied,  and  his  compli 
ments  as  creamy  as  the  lather  he  rubbed  in. 

Alonzo  A.  confessed  a  fondness  for  the  barber; 

14 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

he  considered  Casey  a  fellow  of  judgment  and 
perception.  Casey  was  careful  not  to  offend  this 
conclusion  of  his  patron:  he  was  never  frivolous 
in  the  presence;  he  blinked  like  a  wise  old  horse 
and  was  as  sober  as  an  owl.  Besides,  he  showed 
himself  grateful  for  whatever  crumbs  of  wisdom 
he  could  gather  up  from  his  customer's  discourse, 
and  proved  he  treasured  them  by  repeating  two 
days  later  an  aphorism  or  a  platitude  such  as  only 
Alonzo  A.  could  possibly  have  coined.  As  the 
other  barbers  put  it,  Mr.  Farson  was  "  dead  easy  " 
and  Casey  "  a  peach  at  jollyin'."  But  then  the 
other  barbers  all  were  envious. 

Inspired  by  some  deliverance  of  the  day  before, 
Casey  would  declare:  "Mr.  Farson,  sir,  I've 
thought  it  over  careful,  what  you  said,  sir,  when 
you  was  in  this  chair,  same  as  you  are  now7,  sir, 
and  I  must  say  I  never  thought  to  see  it  that  way 
before,  sir;  but  you  are  right  every  time,  you  are, 
and  that  I've  learned,  sir,  on  my  own  hook,  so  to 
say." 

Warm  response  beamed  up  genially  at  Casey, 
and  between  the  raspings  of  the  razor  Mr.  Farson 
expatiated:  "  For  a  barber,  Casey,  you  do  get 
things  about  right. — Must  say  you  quite  astonish 
me  at  times. — Pity  you  could  not  have  enjoyed  the 

i.S 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

advantages  of  a  classical  education."  (Mr.  Far- 
son  had  been  offered  such  himself,  but  had  refused 
to  pursue  them  further  than  the  freshman  year.) 
— "  Would  have  made  a  man  of  you,  Casey,  with 
your  quickness  to  see  and  to  appreciate. — How 
ever,  cheer  up,  Casey,  for  it  isn't  every  classically 
educated  man  who  has  your  ready  sympathy  for 
broad  ideas  and  stupendous  designs,  let  me  tell 
you  that." 

Bland  Casey  accepted  this  assurance  with  an 
unctuous  innocence. —  '  You  don't  say  so,  sir.  My 
mother,  sir,  and  you  would  have  agreed.  She'd 
have  it,  sir,  my  natural  parts  fit  me  for  the  priest 
hood,  and  she  wished  for  me  to  run  up  through 
the  curriculum  entire.  But  the  devil,  sir,  he  or 
dained  otherwise,  fearin'  if  I  added  sacred  and 
profane  learnin'  to  my  other  gifts  he'd  be  done  out 
of  any  chanst  with  me  at  all." 

The  barber  lathered  disconsolately  a  while. — 
"  However,  as  you've  sagassiously  observed,  sir, 
though  Latin  is  all  Greek  to  me,  I  get  next  to  some 
things  quick.  I  don't  have  to  be  run  over  by  a 
mighty  intellect  before  T  can  recognize  what's 
hittin'  me.  All  I  have  to  do  is  to  shave  a  great 
man  once  for  me  to  know  him  when  I  see  him. 

16 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Why,  sir,  I  was  on  to  your  size  the  first  time  you 
come  in  at  the  door." 

Alonzo  A.,  lying  back,  sighed  delightedly.  He 
was  constrained  to  veil  the  gratification  of  his  eyes 
beneath  his  lids.  "  Ah,  Casey,  Casey,  you've  per 
ception,  Casey.  Where  could  a  barber  have  picked 
up  such  fine  discrimination  is  what  beats  me.  It's 
not  the  smartness  your  kind  is  always  cursed  with ; 
it's  knowledge,  penetration,  power  to  comprehend 
a  great  undertaking  and  to  apprehend  an  expan 
sive  soul,  Casey." 

"I  do  know  a  few  things,"  admitted  Casey, 
smugly.  The  smugness  was  a  mistake. 

;'  For  a  damned  barber,  yes,  it  must  be  con 
fessed  you  do,"  declared  Mr.  Parson  with  sudden 
vehemence.  "  You  should  be  told,  though,  you 
never  really  will  know  much.  A  barber's  too  low 
down,  you  know." 

The  candour,  if  it  startled  Casey,  did  not  dis 
concert  his  policy.  He  assumed  a  contrite  aspect. 
Snubs  and  takings-down,  like  sudden  squalls,  were 
to  be  expected  at  the  hands  of  his  august  patron. 
He  tried  "  to  turn  'em  all  to  his  good,"  as  after 
each  chastisement  he  was  wont  to  confess.  The 
meekness  pleased  the  millionaire,  demonstrating 
to  his  mind  how  salutary  was  his  method  for  pre- 
17 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

venting  "  the  big  head  "  among  barbers,  and  how 
conducive  to  public  order  were  occasional  re 
minders  to  the  latter  of  their  place. 

Stretched  on  his  back,  however,  he  could  not 
avoid  the  sight  of  the  poor  man's  rueful  coun 
tenance.  Alonzo's  ready  sentimentalism  was 
evoked;  he  felt  for  his  victim.  "  Don't  take  it 
too  hard,  my  man;  there's  balm  still  in  Gilead 
for  us  all.  Aren't  you  my  friend,  even  though 
you  are  a  barber?  The  minds  that  have  ruled 
the  world  all  have  possessed  humble  friends. 
King  Louis  XI  and  his  barber  were  devoted 
friends.  And,  though  certainly  you  can  hardly 
hope  to  be  a  Napoleon  in  any  line  except  that  of 
the  towel  and  razor,  Casey,  you  can  nevertheless 
remain  the  friend  and  confidant  of  a  man  who  is 
a  Napoleon  in  his  higher  line,  Casey,  let  me  tell 
you  that." 

"  Sure,"  assented  Casey  with  alacrity,  "  sure 
thing  I  can."  He  not  only  eagerly  accepted  the 
vicarious  glory,  but  proceeded  to  extract  some 
slight  practical  advantage  from  his  prompt  ac 
quiescence.  "  And  if  I  may  say  it,  sir,  without 
any  offense,  sir,  you  big  Napoleons  ought  to  have 
your  humble  friends,  sir,  so  to  speak.  You,  sir, 
ought  to  have  for  friend,  sir,  a  devoted  feller,— 

18 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

some  feller  's  quick  's  a  cat,  sir,  and  as  knowin' 
as  them  there  fox-terriers  are.  You  need  him 
close  to  you,  mighty  close,  sir, — some  feller  who 
can  read  your  mind  by  your  winks  and  appreciate 
your  great  designs,  sir,  because  he  sympathizes 
with  the  workin's  of  a  stupendous  mind,  sir." 

"Now  where  did  you  learn  that,  Casey?"  ex 
claimed  Mr.  Parson,  amazed.  '  You  have  ig- 
norantly  voiced  one  of  my  most  profound 
ideas."  The  gratification  to  his  vanity  was  so 
intense,  that,  to  use  Casey's  descriptive  phrase, 
he  "just  slopped  over": — "For  a  fellow  of 
no  education  and  not  a  bit  of  breeding  you 
surprise  me,  Casey.  Just  jog  my  memory  from 
time  to  time.  I've  registered  a  mental  note,  your 
name  is  italicized  upon  the  tablets  of  my  mind; 
but  I  bear  such  vast  responsibilities  and  am  bur 
dened  with  such  gigantic  plans  that  I  may,  I  will 
not  say  forget, — Napoleon  never  forgot, — but  I 
may  procrastinate  your  claim.  As  a  barber,  Casey, 
you  are  as  a  pearl  cast  before  swine,  let  me  tell  you 
that." 

"  Don't  talk,  sir,  while  I  shave  you  under  the 
chops,  sir. — There's  nothin'  like  knowin'  men,  sir, 
on  sight,  sir,  as  you  do.  The  dubs  I  shave,  sir, — 
I've  shaved  for  years,  sir, — never  discovered  me 

19 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

for  what  I  am,  sir,  as  you  have,  sir,  and  all  in  a 
stroke  of  genius,  so  to  say.  They  think  I'm 
nothin'  but  a  frivolous  barber,  sir,  when  I'm  cal- 
culatin'  as  an  heir  at  a  funeral.  Ever  since  I 
started  scrapin'  chins  and  supplyin'  entertainment, 
I've  been  watchin'  for  a  chanst,  sir,  and  a-figurin' 
how  I'd  grab  it  by  the  solar  plexus  when  it  come 
along.  Figurin'  on  it  is  what  has  made  my  young 
face  serious,  sir." 

Mr.  Parson  pulled  his  Napoleonic  nose  in  warm 
approval  of  these  sentiments, — the  nose  was  the 
only  particle  of  him  emerging  from  the  layers  of 
wet  towels  the  barber  was  applying  to  his  physiog 
nomy.  When  he  got  breath  he  said:  "  You  know 
exactly  what  you're  talking  about,  you  do,  Casey. 
Opportunity, — the  ablest  of  us  all  needs  oppor 
tunity,  and  plenty  of  it,  let  me  tell  you  that.  Na 
poleon  needed  it; — its  co-operation  explains  his 
niarvelously  early  success,  while  I  have  been 
forced  to  wait  two-thirds  of  a  lifetime  for  the  op 
portunity  to  appear  which  shall  allow  me  to  con 
fute  my  envious  friends  and  confound  my  per 
sistent  foes.  But — I'll  let  you  into  a  secret, 
Casey — mind,  it  is  imparted  as  a  mark  of  supreme 
confidence — my  opportunity,  which  may  prove 

20 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

yours,  too,  is  coming  right  along,  nay,  I  deem 
that  it  is  now  at  hand." 

Casey  licked  the  thick  contours  of  his  lips  with 
a  broad,  red  tongue.  That  habit  of  the  tongue 
remained  the  single  emotional  expression  the  pol 
itic  barber  allowed  himself;  otherwise  the  sleek 
clerical  countenance  possessed  about  as  much  mo 
bility  as  a  mask.  Corraling  the  red  member  within 
his  teeth  again,  he  raised  the  reclining  chair  up 
right,  lifting  Alonzo  A.  to  a  sitting  posture.  The 
latter,  rinsed  from  shaving-soap  like  Venus  from 
sea-foam,  with  overt  satisfaction  contemplated  his 
renewed  pulchritude  in  the  gilt-framed  mirror. 

The  barber  applied  the  final  touches  with  so 
tender  an  art  and  so  solicitous  a  care  as  to  touch 
the  susceptibility  of  the  grand  Alonzo,  who  at 
once  to  gratify  himself  and  to  reward  the  faithful 
servant,  confided  what  lay  upon  his  heart.  "  The 
fact  is,  Casey,  it  has  come,  it's  now  upon  us.  The 
swirls  of  vast  products  and  stupendous  combina 
tions  that  have  been  seething  in  my  brain  these 
many  years,  have  drawn  to  a  head  finally  and  are 
now  about  to  burst  forth  upon  the  world  in  an 
embodied  shape  and  a  tangible  form.  I  am  heart 
ily  rejoiced  that  your  sympathy  is  anticipative, 
Casey,  that  you  divine  beforehand  what  a  phleg- 

21 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

matic  and  a  sordid  world  will  only  become  aware 
of  afterwards." 

Shaking  his  head  dolefully,  he  raised  himself  by 
his  arms  from  the  tonsorial  chair.  "  Remember, 
Casey,  all  this  is  in  the  strictest  confidence  between 
you  and  me,  given  you  because  you  exhibit  pres 
cience,  Casey, — prescience  quite  miraculous  in  a 
barber." 

"  Sure,"  professed  Casey,  solemnly.  "  'Tis  the 
same,  sir,  as  if  my  old  mother  was  tellin'  me  the 
sort  of  a  man  my  father  was." 

Thereafter  Alonzo  A.  continually  teased  him 
self  with  the  persistent  query:  "Now  'pon  my 
word,  I  wonder  how  it  would  strike  Casey,  were 
I  to  disclose  to  him,  succinctly,  the  secret  of  my 
monumental  scheme.  Gad,  I  can  see  the  undiluted 
admiration  suffuse  the  fellow's  honest  face." 

In  truth  the  millionaire,  being  both  a  sentimen 
talist  and  a  democrat,  wanted  everybody's  affection 
and  approval;  but  his  vanity  induced  the  notion 
that  the  requirements  of  his  wealth  and  position 
ordained  that  he  must  suppress  his  natural  inclina 
tions  and  imitate,  as  well  as  he  was  able,  the  aloof 
ness  of  the  grand  seigneur. 

But  temperament  persists,  when  principles  take 
a  recess.  The  temptation  to  astonish  the  barber 

22 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

proved  ultimately  too  much  for  the  aristocracy  of 
Alonzo  A.:  and  Casey  was  gratifyingly  im 
pressed;  he  pronounced  the  project  the  most  mag 
nificent  imaginable;  in  words  chosen  from  his 
patron's  phraseology,  the  barber  denominated  the 
scheme  "  Napoleonic  ",  "  titanesque  ",  "  stupen 
dously  sublime." 

Thus  Casey  may  be  said  to  have  set  his  foot 
inside  the  door  of  the  Pantheon  before  a  founda 
tion  stone  had  been  laid,  and  to  have  secured 
prospectively  a  soft  berth  in  the  proposed  monu 
ment  to  the  Farson  pride. 


CHAPTER  III. 

HOW  THE  PANTHEON  WAS  NAMED. 

THE  Immense  hotel  was  half  completed 
before  it  received  a  name.  As  has  been 
suggested,  a  title  grandiose  and  sonorous 
was  required  to  satisfy  the  Farson  sense  of  sound. 
Alonzo  A.  himself  spent  far  more  thought  and 
time  upon  the  matter  of  the  name  than  he  had 
upon  the  plans  and  specifications  of  the  building. 
He  worried  not  a  little.  What  he  demanded  was 
a  monumental  appellation  for  a  monumental  pile. 
And  he  bored  his  friends  intolerably  to  furnish 
him  suggestions,  yet  evinced  considerable  jeal 
ousy  if  any  of  them  came  near  to  answering  the 
requirements. 

It  chanced  that  the  tactful  Casey  was  the  lucky 
individual  who  finally  earned  the  gratitude,  with 
out  incurring  the  resentment,  of  the  great  Alonzo. 

At  one  time  Mr.  Farson  had  nearly  made  up 
his  mind  to  call  his  creation  "The  Napoleon"; 
but  his  last  shrewd  surmise  warned  him  that  such 
a  christening  might  be  construed  as  a  complimen 
tary  allusion  to  himself.  Then  he  seriously  con- 

24 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

sidered  "  The  Pyramids  "  :  "  For,"  said  he,  "  it's 
going  to  make  those  forty  centuries  look  like 
thirty  cents."  That  was  the  only  epigram  of 
which  Alonzo  A.  was  ever  guilty, — it  exhausted 
his  ability. 

"What  would  you  call  it,  Casey?"  he  asked 
one  day,  in  desperation.  "  Suppose  you  had  this 
stupendous  structure  on  your  hands,  crushing  your 
mind  night  and  day  with  the  weight  of  its  im 
mense  responsibility, — what  name  would  appeal  to 
your  illiterate  taste  as  adequate  to  match  its  size 
and  cost  and  mammoth  massiveness?  " 

"  Something  classical,  I  think,  sir,"  answered 
Casey,  glibly.  "  If  I,  sir,  was  a  gentleman  like 
you,  raised,  so  to  say,  on  the  classical  literature  of 
Rome  and  Greece,  with  my  mind  and  manners 
polished,  sir,  as  yours  is,  I'd  look  out  for  some 
sort  of  stately,  classical  name  to  label  an  imperial 
undertaking  like  this  here  of  yours,  sir.  Because, 
sir,  and  this  is  my  reason  for  the  same,  only  a 
stupendous  brain,  sir,  refined  for  all  it's  worth 
by  learnin'  in  the  classics,  ever  could  have  thought 
of  the  notion  of  this  here  mammoth  hotel  and 
built  it  to  stupendous  proportions  in  a  night,  so 
to  say,  as  you  done,  sir." 

This  conversation  occurred  in  the  palatial  resi- 

25 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

dence  of  Mr.  Farson  on  Prairie  Avenue,  where 
Casey  had  been  installed  for  a  month  as  barber 
in  ordinary  and  confidential  adviser  in  particular. 
The  latter  had  just  completed  the  matutinal  opera 
tion  upon  his  patron's  august  cheeks. 

Released  and  renewed,  his  face  still  pricking 
from  the  freshness  of  the  shave,  Alonzo  A.  stood 
reflectively  in  majestic  pose,  one  hand  stroking  the 
presumptuous  knob  of  his  nose  in  a  vain  endeavor 
to  curl  it  down  to  aquilinity.  "  Right,  Casey," 
he  muttered  sotto  i:oce.  Then,  as  in  soliloquy,  he 
allowed  his  Titanic  thoughts  to  vent  themselves  in 
speech:  "Olympus?  Yes,  a  grand  name,  the 
name  of  the  gods'  resplendent  abode. — High  up, 
though;  the  vulgar  population  might  charge  us 
with  the  intent  to  run  a  roof-garden. — Elysium? 
That  sounds  well,  too;  but,  alas,  to  some  of  evil 
mind  it  would  be  sure  to  suggest  an  opium  den." 

"  Excuse  me,  sir,"  interrupted  Casey,  rinsing  out 
the  shaving  cup,  "  but  I  seen  a  name  on  a  poster 
in  a  back  alley  ought  to  sound  good  to  you. 
There  were  red  and  black  letters  three  feet  long— 
'  A  Puntheon  of  Wonders  ' — whatever  such  may 
mean." 

Mr.  Farson  advanced  three  strides  and  stayed 
himself  with  a  jerk;  with  his  open  palm  he  struck 

26 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

his  forehead  a  dramatic  blow. — "  Pantheon,  you 
mean,  Casey;  Pantheon,  as  you're  too  deplorably 
ignorant  to  know ! — A  big  dome  with  a  round  eye 
in  it. — Pantheon !  Ah,  there  is  poignant  pungency 
and  perfume  in  the  name !  " 

Suddenly  he  darted  a  suspicious  glance  at  Casey. 
But  that  worthy,  in  the  guilelessness  of  his  sim 
plicity,  had  his  back  turned  and  was  busily  en 
gaged  in  packing  up  his  razors.  "  Puntheon  " 
had  clean  escaped  his  thoughts. — "  Mr.  Farson," 
he  said,  half  turning,  "  I  seen  that  feller  with  the 
Arizona  mines  again  yesterday,  and  he  give  me 
some  more  taffy  about  lettin'  you  in  on  the  ground 
floor,  sir.  But  he  didn't  deceive  me  none. — They 
can't,  when  I'm  a  watchin'  your  interests,  sir." 

Soon  afterwards  the  grand  Alonzo  announced 
as  fresh  news  to  Casey:  "  I  have  determined  on 
a  name  at  last,  as  you  will  be  glad  to  learn.  I 
chanced  on  it,  Casey,  quite  by  accident;  in  fact, 
it  occurred  to  me  when  I  was  contemplating  how 
a  dome  would  do,  surmounting  the  top  of  the 
towering  hotel.  The  Pantheon  in  Rome,  you 
know, — or  rather  a  barber  couldn't  know, — is  a 
huge  dome  with  a  round  hole  directly  in  the  centre. 
I  immediately  carried  my  idea  to  the  architect, 
who  pronounced  it  feasible.  He  persuaded  me, 

27 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

however,  not  to  have  the  dome  surmount  the 
whole,  but  to  let  it  roof  in  the  lobby.  A  big  cir 
cular  sky-light  in  the  middle  of  the  dome  will  light 
the  lobby  and  serve  to  carry  out  the  classical  re 
semblance  and  justify  the  choice  of  name. — That 
was  clever  of  you,  by  the  way,  Casey,  that  prefer 
ence  of  yours  for  something  classical.  It  set  me 
on  the  right  track  and  led  to  this  idea  of  mine, 
this  name,  '  The  Pantheon.  ' 

Casey  licked  his  lips.  "  Sure  it  sounds  fine," 
he  approved.  "  Puntheon — it  fills  the  mouth  up 
good.  You've  an  ear  for  melodjous  words,  you 
have,  sir,  if  you'll  excuse  me  mentionin'  it." 

"  Certainly,  Casey,  certainly,"  responded  Alon- 
zo  A.  warmly.  "  You  always  did  appreciate  what 
I  may  venture,  strictly  between  ourselves,  to  de 
nominate  my  genius." 

"  Sure,  sir,  sure,"  assented  Casey,  fervidly. 
"  Genius  it  is,  and  no  man,  says  I,  deserves  the 
title  of  it  more'n  you,  sir." 

Mr.  Farson  expatiated  much  upon  the  high 
quality  of  the  name:  "The  Pantheon. — That 
means,  Casey,  a  structure  grand  enough  to  house 
all  the  gods  and  goddesses.  You  don't  under 
stand,  perhaps?  Of  course  not, — it's  a  classical 

28 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

allusion  only  to  be  grasped  in  its  entirety  by  the 
fully  educated  man,  Casey.  You  must  take  it  on 
my  say-so,  on  faith,  my  man.  This  much,  though, 
your  mind  can  comprehend,  Casey :  Pantheon  em 
braces  all  the  gods  and  goddesses. — I've  just  re 
freshed  my  memory  out  of  the  Classical  Diction 
ary." 

"  Both  male  and  female,  sir?" 

"  Yes,  and  their  numerous  offspring,  Casey. 
Cupid  was  the  child  of  Venus  and  Mars  and  so  so, 
Casey." 

;'  It's  worth  a  whole  heap  to  have  been  edu 
cated,"  muttered  Casey. 

"  And  it's  my  intention  to  set  up  classic  statues 
of  the  gods  and  goddesses  all  around  the  lobby 
on  white  marble  pedestals,"  continued  Mr.  Farson, 
infatuated  with  his  idea.  "  How  does  that  strike 
you,  Casey?  " 

"Naked  Venuses  and  Adams  and  Eves,  sir?" 
Casey  gasped. 

'  Now,  Casey,  repress  your  vulgar  instincts," 
admonished  Alonzo  A.  "  Be  a  gentleman,  even 
if  you  are  a  barber.  If  you  do  not  naturally  ap 
preciate  the  refinements  of  art,  then  learn  by  my 
example,  Casey;  admire  where  I  admire,  and  con- 

29 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

demn  where  I  condemn.  It  will  do  you  good,  let 
me  tell  you  that.  And  by  and  by  you  may,  per 
haps,  get  a  glimmering  idea  of  what  constitutes 
good  taste." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  CINDERELLA  OF  CIGARS. 

A  YOUNG  man  scraped  a  violin  in  the  or 
chestra  of  the  Pantheon.  The  orchestra 
was  established  in  a  gallery  that,  like  a  cor 
nice,  crowned  the  onyx-panelled  palisade  dividing 
the  grand  dining-room  from  the  circular  lobby,  or 
rotunda,  of  the  hotel.  The  music,  dispensed  each 
night  from  this  eminence,  enlivened  the  courses  of 
the  dinner  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  aug 
mented  the  disturbance  in  the  air  of  the  lobby. 

As  for  the  young  man,  who  with  his  fellow- 
musicians  was  seated  on  high,  except  in  the  way  of 
employment,  he  was  obviously  no  fellow  of  theirs. 
They  were  Germans,  soulful,  beer-guzzling,  senti 
mental,  unobservant;  whilst  he,  tucking  his  in 
strument  snugly  beneath  his  chin  and  drawing  a 
rhythmic  bow  across  the  catgut,  allowed  his  eyes 
to  wander  weariedly  over  the  feasters  at  the  glis 
tening  tables,  and  then  across  the  throng  upon 
the  rotunda's  floor. 

This  observer,  so  well-placed  for  surveying 
others,  found  himself  occasionally  observed.  Al- 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

though  he  wore  ill-fitting  clothes  and  studiously 
assumed  contorted  attitudes,  his  inveterate  ele 
gance  was  not  to  be  dissembled  wholly  nor  his  qual 
ity  to  be  denied.  Indeed,  the  gallery  itself  ex 
alted  him,  setting  him  up  to  be  gazed  upon  in  com 
pany  with  the  Olympians  on  their  pedestals 
around. 

Thus,  his  natural  conspicuousness  was  accentu 
ated,  an  unfortunate  circumstance,  if  his  bid  was 
really  for  obscurity  and  his  modesty  sincere. 
Probably,  however,  the  attention  he  was  subjected 
to  annoyed  him  less  than  it  would  have  a  plainer 
man,  one  unused  to  notice.  At  least  he  accepted 
it  as  a  commonplace  to  be  endured,  a  natural 
enough  occurrence. 

He  would  have  furnished  a  proper  model  to  the 
fashionable  illustrators  of  the  day,  and,  attired  in 
modish  garments,  have  decorated  the  page  of  a 
fashionable  magazine  to  become  the  beau  ideal  of 
virginal  imaginations  and  the  rival  in  public  esti 
mation  of  Apollo  Belvidere  and  one  or  two  male 
stars  of  the  stage. 

In  fine,  he  was  a  beauty  and  yet,  paradox  though 
it  may  seem,  remained  a  man.  He  had  a  habit, 
despite  more  or  less  disinclination  on  his  part,  of 
proving  fatal  to  women  of  all  ages  and  in  every 

32 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

walk  of  life.  Women,  seeing  him,  for  once  beheld 
in  form  what  had  been  an  unconfessed  dream  of 
their  poetic  hearts.  At  first  sight  he  took  their 
fancy,  nor,  did  misfortune  so  far  favour  any  one 
of  them  as  to  give  her  his  acquaintance,  could  she 
afterwards  be  disillusioned  by  any  indifference  or 
selfishness  of  his.  Fond  fools,  they  cherished  him 
forever  in  their  memories  even  after  they  com 
promised  respectably  and  married. 

Frequently  accused  of  enticing  women,  he  was 
quite  blameless  in  reality.  He  never  had  com 
menced  a  flirtation  in  his  life;  he  was  too  used  to 
having  them  commenced  for  him.  Besides,  he 
came  of  a  cold  lineage.  If  his  speech  betrayed 
him  as  of  New  England,  it  and  a  propensity  to 
reserve,  displayed  at  critical  moments,  more  nar 
rowly  defined  him  as  of  the  Brahmin  caste,  which 
acute  discrimination  knows  to  be  less  passionate 
than  emotional,  and  less  emotional  than  meditative. 

He  had  enjoyed  his  seat  in  the  gallery  for  three 
months  now  and  six  nights  out  of  seven  he  viewed 
the  changing  movement  of  the  lobby  and  the  per 
petual  feast  of  the  dining-room.  And,  although 
oftentimes  constrained  to  contempt  by  what  he 
witnessed,  very  often  also  he  was  moved  to  smiles. 
Indeed,  his  sense  of  amusement  exceeded  his  sense 

a  33 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

of  boredom  so  far  that  he  found  himself  surprised 
at  the  capacity  of  interest  remaining  in  him  still. 

In  truth,  the  comedy  presented  was  not  half 
bad.  For  the  whole  broad  continent  trooped 
through  the  Pantheon  and  all  Chicago  and  much 
of  the  world  besides.  The  success  and  the  spend 
ing,  the  newness  and  vulgarity,  the  aspiration  and 
astonishing  achievement  of  America,  paraded  on 
public  exhibition.  And  after  the  "  cock-sure  " 
young  critic  from  the  "  effete  East  "  had  wearied 
distinguishing  the  transitory  types  representative 
of  every  section  between  Duluth  and  El  Paso,  he 
took  to  sharpening  his  wit  upon  the  figures  of  re 
curring  permanence,  those  of  the  "  solid  citizens  " 
of  Chicago  and  of  their  "  smart  "  families. 

That  circular  rotunda !  Gorgeous  in  cream  and 
gold  and  rose;  the  desk  and  offices  scaled  in  plates 
of  onyx;  the  floor  an  intricacy  of  curdled 
colours;  the  stained  glass  dome  studded  with  its 
great  crystal  eye;  the  enormous  hollow  resonant 
with  voices,  misty  with  tobacco;  the  impossible 
whole,  shrieking  with  incongruities,  blazed  upon 
by  a  power  of  electric  light,  whose  pallid  glare, 
cliffused  from  all  quarters,  fell,  without  producing 
shadow,  upon  a  constant  chattering,  restless,  ner 
vous  throng, — it  had  no  charm,  it  shocked,  was 

34 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

barbarous,  yet  its  fascination  reached  even  the 
finical  musician,  who  liked  and  loathed  it  both,  as 
the  place  most  modern  and  American  of  all  the 
spots  in  which  he  had  ever  set  a  foot. 

At  a  moment  when  his  mind  was  unconsciously 
seeking  some  relief  from  this  incessant  emphasis, 
his  eye  first  chanced  upon  the  Lady  of  Cigars. 
She  stood  some  hours  of  every  day  behind  the 
curved  cigar  stand,  her  hands  usually  engaged  in 
opening  and  shutting  the  glass-topped  cases  and 
in  taking  out  for  customers  and  putting  back  the 
green-stamped  cedar  boxes  of  her  trade.  On 
either  side  the  recess  filled  by  the  stand,  upsprang 
the  marble  pillars  whose  circle  described  the  ro 
tunda  and  afforded  shelter  for  the  classic  statu 
ary;  while  behind,  proving  an  effective  back 
ground  for  the  girl's  peculiar  colouring,  were  set 
the  panelled  advertisements,  done  in  enameled 
black  with  lettering  of  gilt.  They  proclaimed  the 
grandiose  Spanish  names  of  select  brands  of 
Havana,  and  against  their  gold  and  sable  tablature 
her  contours  were  defined. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  humble  Cinderella 
of  Cigars,  for  so  the  fanciful  musician  styled  her 
in  his  mind,  became  responsible  for  poetical  imag 
inings.  She  was  so  lowly,  yet  she  seemed  unique; 

35 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

she  was  so  hemmed  in  by  the  menace  of  the  world, 
yet  she  appeared  worthy  of  most  delicate  pro 
vision.  If  he  himself  were  powerful,  the  musician 
dreamed,  would  it  not  be  a  delight  to  play  a  King 
Cophetua  to  her  Beggar-maid. 

She  was  neither  beautiful  nor  endowed  with 
ravishing  grace.  Yet  she  made  effective  appeal 
with  her  individuality  and  her  natural  charm.  Her 
face  was  too  long,  perhaps,  her  body  too  thin; 
but  there  were  dimples  in  her  silken  cheeks  and 
unsuspected  ease  appeared  in  her  quick  sweeping 
movements.  At  least,  the  musician,  contemplating 
sympathetically,  discovered  a  mild  aesthetic  satis 
faction,  which  in  that  hot  lobby  refreshed  him  like 
a  cool  drink  in  a  time  of  drought. 

She  was  not  destitute,  however;  she  had  one 
glory  and  some  unconscious  art.  Her  hair,  deep 
tinged  as  copper,  massy  as  metal,  matched  the 
chief  note  of  the  lobby's  atrocious  ornamentation, 
and  was  splendid  as  the  latter  was  bizarre.  Her 
action,  even  when  awkward,  was  dexterous,  facile. 
In  fact,  whatsoever  she  performed,  was  with  a 
fascinating  economy  of  effort. 

Yet  if  that  white-fingered  deftness  in  her  busi 
ness,  if  the  management  of  her  slim  and  pliant 
body  were  both  admirable,  they  suggested  what 

36 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

was  pitiable  too.  The  sensibility  revealed  in  the 
backs  of  her  hands,  the  quivering  delicacy  of  her 
features,  acquainted  the  musician  too  surely  with 
what  she  was,  and  led  him  to  forebode  what  her 
fate  must  be.  The  comparison,  as  usual  with 
comparisons  of  his-  making,  seems  no  doubt  far 
fetched — he  was  reminded  of  some  precious  brit 
tle  miracle  in  glass,  some  Venetian  vase  perhaps, 
fixed  in  beauty,  but  unrnalleable,  and  hence  des 
tined  to  be  shattered  into  bits  at  last. 

No  slight  presentiment  of  such  doom,  however, 
coloured  her  light  conduct  of  the  part  she  was 
called  to  play  upon  the  public  floor  of  the  Pan 
theon.  Her  head,  fitted  excellently  upon  the 
slender  neck,  turned  vivaciously  in  response  to  a 
new  buyer,  or  nodded  charmingly  in  farewell  to 
a  departing  customer.  Every  one  who  traded  re 
ceived  a  reward,  a  smile  that  contrived  just  to  lift 
the  curvings  of  her  mouth  and  to  evoke  the  dim 
ples  in  her  cheeks.  Her  appreciator  in  the  gal 
lery  decided  that  she  would  be  good  to  live  with, 
she  was  so  pleasant. 

Nevertheless,  although  she  bore  herself  with  so 
brave  a  levity,  she  had  her  bitter  moods  and  en 
dured  tribulations,  as  the  musician  later  learned. 
For  long  times  she  would  like  the  hum,  the  busi- 

37 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

ness  of  the  lobby;  then  the  noise  and  movement 
would  afflict  her  nerves,  engendering  fits  of  sharp 
disgust,  when  she  felt  she  must  cry  out  or  run  away. 

Given  a  bit  of  an  excuse,  however,  she  would 
be  an  optimist  and  take  the  world  on  credit.  She 
had  made  her  friends  of  the  world  as  it  was,  of 
most  any  sort  of  men, — she  had  the  faculty  of 
provoking  good  in  all.  Yet,  if  men  with  the  com 
mon  chivalry  of  Americans  generally  respected 
her  defencelessness,  some  few  there  were  whom 
even  her  wide  good  nature  could  not  tolerate  or 
her  geniality  convert. 

Loye,  one  of  the  hotel  clerks,  she  considered  her 
worst  enemy.  Him  she  fairly  hated,  attempting 
no  concealment  of  her  sentiment.  He  was  much 
too  lazy  and  indifferent  to  intrigue  against  her;  in 
fact  he  seldom  noted  her  existence  except  when  his 
eyes  happened  to  encounter  hers.  But  his  dark 
face  was  bitter;  he  had  endured  so  many  flouts 
from  those  above  him  that  he  was  keen  about 
"  taking  it  out "  on  the  small  minority  below. 
The  cigar-girl  he  believed  to  be  abjectly  at  his 
mercy,  and  she  was  such  a  "  high  falutin'  "  fool  as 
he  loved  to  tease.  He  was  the  kind  of  fellow  who 
delights  to  poke  an  umbrella  into  a  cage  and  stir 
up  the  furry  prisoners  to  helpless  fear  and  rage. 

38 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

The  "  lady  cashier  "  abetted  Loye.  She  kept 
the  books  and  received  the  payments  from  the 
guests  through  the  arch  of  her  high-screened  desk, 
which  adjoined  the  clerk's.  Perched  on  a  high 
stool  at  her  post,  her  outlook  included  the  cigar 
stand  not  many  feet  away.  Daily  she  beheld  her 
working-sister's  popularity  and  chronicled  the  in 
stances  of  the  latter's  fetching  ways  with  men. 
Daily  her  envy  grew.  The  cashier  liked  men  her 
self;  she  was  a  full-blooded  little  woman  with  an 
appetite  for  dinners  and  a  weakness  for  after-din 
ner  tendernesses.  She  resented  the  fact  that 
"  swell  "  men  ignored  the  signals  from  her  window 
for  the  attractions  of  the  cigar  stand,  and  she 
despised  her  rival  for  an  inability  "  to  get  anything 
but  jolly  out  of  the  jokers  she's  got  hooked." 

The  "  lady  cashier "  it  was,  who  in  derision 
dubbed  our  Cinderella  of  Cigars — "  Duchess  of 
Few  Clothes." 

But  the  upshot  of  her  malice  caused  its  origi 
nator  to  bite  her  lip.  For  the  men  about  the  hotel, 
Colonel  Patten  in  particular,  discarded  the  dis 
crediting  part  of  the  title  and  retained  the  honour 
able  portion. 

"Duchess  of  Few  Clothes!"  exclaimed  the 
disdainful  Colonel.  "  It  don't  fit  you  any  better 

39 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

than  an  old  papa-guy  fits  a  young  bride.  Duchess 
of  Dimples  is  what  it  ought  to  be,  and  I  guess 
plain  Duchess,  without  frills,  will  suit  you  about 
right."  Then  the  gallant  old  man  smiled  to  see 
the  dimples  start  playing  hide-and-seek  in  the 
soft  pallour  of  her  cheeks. 

Thus  Duchess  she  became  within  the  purlieus  of 
the  Pantheon,  whether  by  way  of  derision  or  out 
of  compliment.  Her  own  name,  Miss  Vantage, 
she  rarely  heard. 

This  greater  knowledge  of  her  the  musician 
gained  through  the  little  talks  they  had  together 
whenever  he  bought  a  cigar.  Biting  off  the  end 
of  the  wyeed  and  puffing  sundry  preliminary  puffs, 
he  was  quite  apt  to  let  his  light  go  out,  so  inter 
ested  did  he  become  in  drawing  her  opinions  forth. 

A  disciple  of  Walt  Whitman,  as  he  drolly  con 
sidered  himself  to  be,  a  most  delicious  idealogue 
as  he  was  in  fact,  the  musician  had  come  West  to 
be  confirmed  in  what  he  fancied  was  democracy, 
and  to  elude  the  limitations  (likewise  the  respon 
sibility)  of  aristocratic  birth.  He  had  conscien 
tiously  consorted  on  terms  of  equality  with  his 
brother  men,  and  if  he  found  such  a  state  of  living 
different  from  what  his  theory  had  led  him  to  sup 
pose,  he  would  not  own  to  it.  Of  one  result,  how- 

40 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

ever,  he  was  certain, — the  experience  had  prepared 
him  to  appreciate  the  Duchess. 

Her  mistakes,  her  crudities,  the  liberties  she 
sometimes  took,  her  vulgarisms  of  speech,  her 
gaucheries  of  manner, — they  no  longer  had  the 
power  mortally  to  offend  his  punctilious  taste. 
Breeding  he  had  discovered  to  be  an  accident  of 
class,  but  delicacy  he  had  divined  was  a  faculty 
of  the  individual  spirit.  What  mattered  if  she 
lacked  the  accent  of  Beacon  street,  when  by  the  in 
trinsic  fineness  of  her  sense  she  belonged  to  the 
elect. 

One  difference,  he  had  perceived,  divided  peo 
ple.  Some  were  callous  and  a  few  were  sensitive. 
The  small  minority  secured  his  interest;  for  them 
he  reserved  sympathy  and  the  most  of  his  pity. 
A  sensitive  organism,  he  averred,  cast  into  the 
swarming  sea  to  contend  among  ravenous  fish  for 
a  living,  is  like  a  tender  mollusk,  despoiled  of  its 
shell,  in  the  midst  of  a  fighting  shoal  of  shark  and 
porpoise. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  PRINCESS  OF  THE   PANTHEON. 

WHO     were     the     Duchess's     "  gentlemen 
friends"? 

One  was  Charley  Fleece,  Loye's  col 
league,  and  chief  clerk  of  the  hotel.  Fleece  once 
had  said  a  word  to  Loye  on  the  Duchess's  account, 
and  while  he  "  lingered  in  the  wings  "  the  most 
obstreperous  "  bell-hop  "  dared  not  "  take  a  fall  " 
out  of  "  Her  Grace." 

Fleece  may  have  been  a  Rabelaisian  in  his 
humour,  being  earthy  of  the  earth;  but  he  was  a 
sentimentalist  at  heart.  He  pitied  the  horses  of 
Chicago;  his  heart  bled  for  the  stray  dogs.  Genial 
to  all  mankind,  to  those  he  styled  "  lame  ducks  " 
he  was  a  little  more.  The  Duchess's  defenceless- 
ness  had  been  apparent  to  him  from  the  first,  and 
accordingly  he  had  gone  out  of  his  way  "  to  make 
it  as  easy  for  her  "  as  he  could. — "  What  gets  me," 
was  one  of  Fleece's  sapient  reflections,  "  is  why, 
\vhen  we  humans  are  a  lot  of  wretched  monkeys 
anyway,  we  hanker  so  all-fired  hard  after  twisting 
our  brother  monkey's  tail." 

42 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Fleece  behind  the  clerk's  desk  was  worth  dollars 
to  the  Pantheon.  He  knew  men  by  the  hundred 
from  Maine  to  Oregon.  His  greeting,  jovial,  ap 
parently  sincere,  had  the  semblance  of  a  personal 
welcome  to  all  who  came;  and  all  who  left  felt 
they  were  parting  from  a  friend.  Fleece's  proto 
type  unquestionably  was  some  larded  mediaeval 
monk,  the  custodian  of  the  cellars  under  a  beetling 
castle  on  the  Rhine.  His  hearty  neck  just  man 
aged  to  clear  his  round,  rich  "  chops  "  of  the  only 
collar  he  could  wear,  one  turned  broadly  down  and 
low  in  front.  His  face  was  like  a  hoop,  a  bit  lop 
sided;  his  nose  was  bulbous;  his  mouth  wide  as  a 
grin;  while  his  two  small,  black  eyes,  one  higher 
set  than  the  other,  sparkled  under  crescent  brows, 
like  comic  stars  within  the  segments  of  new  moons. 
As  for  his  big,  broad  sconce,  spiked  thickly  with 
black  bristles,  it  was  a  joy,  inviting  pats,  like  the 
head  of  a  Saint  Bernard. 

Although  fashioned  like  a  barrel,  Fleece  was 
nimble  on  his  feet  and  quick  in  every  part.  Stand 
ing  behind  the  hotel  desk,  where  the  guests  regis 
tered  their  names,  he  would  turn  his  head  on  his 
short  neck,  now  this  way  and  now  that,  "  to  take 
in  everything."  So  employed,  to  use  his  own  de 
scription,  he  resembled  "  a  little  dog  in  high  grass 

43 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

sticking  himself  up  on  his  hind  legs  to  get  a  good 
view  for  himself." 

Another  cordial  friend  of  the  Duchess  was  Col 
onel  Patten,  who  lived  in  the  hotel  and  was  reputed 
to  be  rich.  He  was  a  handsome  old  boy,  was 
Colonel  Patten,  altogether  conscious  of  the  dis 
tinguished  figure  he  presented.  Indeed,  the  man; 
who  are  unaware  that  a  man  can  be  overdressed, 
mistook  him  for  a  gentleman  of  leisure  by  pursuit, 
and  would  have  been  amazed  to  have  been  in 
formed  that  the  object  of  their  admiration  was 
an  affluent  haberdasher. 

When  Colonel  Patten,  of  the  fashionable  firm 
of  Pattern  and  Patten,  was  not  sitting  out  the  day 
in  a  willow  rocking  chair  in  his  establishment  in 
Jackson  Boulevard,  he  was  parading  evenings,  be 
assured,  up  and  down  the  rotunda  or  the  corridors 
of  the  Pantheon,  himself  a  flawl'ess  triumph  of  the 
sartorial  art,  swinging  his  trifle  of  a  gold-headed 
stick  and  curling  with  one  delicate  hand  the  mili 
tary  ends  of  his  luxuriant  white  mustache.  In  any 
case  and  at  any  hour  it  was  "  a  safe  bet  "  that 
Colonel  Patten  was  equally  busy  doing  nothing. 

"  I  never  did  a  stroke  of  honest  work,"  was 
the  Colonel's  frequent  boast.  "  I  always  sat 
around  and  commented.  That  is  my  success." 

44 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  I  don't  know  much,"  he  would  admit.  "  I 
don't  want  to.  If  I  knew  more,  I  wouldn't  be  con 
genial  to  my  fellow  men." 

;'  I'm  only  dead  certain  of  one  thing,"  he  em 
phatically  declared,  "  and  it's  the  only  thing  that 
influences  me.  That  is,  the  nights  are  made  for 
sleeping  and  the  days  are  made  for  rest." 

;'  Why  work?  "  he  loved  to  moralize.  "  Let 
the  other  fellow  work;  he  usually  is  anxious  to. 
Work  him." 

The  philosophy  indicated  by  these  excerpts,  Col 
onel  Patten  had  applied  to  life  with  unusual  results. 
There  dwelt  no  happier  man  in  Christendom,  ex 
cept  in  the  intervals  when  he  remembered  that  he 
hated  to  die.  He  liked  to  sit  around  and  air  his 
views  in  the  Pantheon;  he  liked  to  display  what 
can  be  veraciously  described  as  his  toilettes;  he 
liked  the  comment  his  passage  anywhere  excited. 
He  did  not  exactly  relish  his  "  line  of  business  "; 
but  he  had  grown  used  to  the  compromise  and 
managed  to  impart  to  it  something  of  his  per 
sonal  distinction.  Sitting  eight  hours  in  an  alcove, 
furnished  almost  like  a  boudoir,  he  received  his 
more  important  customers  as  if  he  were  a  host 
and  condescended  to  bestow  his  advice.  He  knew 

45 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

how  to  train  his  clerks  to  be  perfect  salesmen  by 
precept  upon  precept,  never  by  example. 

"  Humph,"  said  he,  once  upon  a  time,  in  a 
burst  of  exuberant  candour,  u  if  I  hadn't  been  a 
vulgar  haberdasher,  I  might  well  have  been  an 
English  earl." 

In  his  estimate  of  men  Colonel  Patten  was  as 
decisive  as  the  judge  in  the  parable  of  the  sheep 
and  the  goats.  He  divided  all  men  into  two  classes, 
"  dubs  "  and  "  thorough-breds  "  and  his  judgment 
upon  the  point  was  infallible.  He  had  been  known 
to  designate  a  very  rich  man's  son  as  "  a  hopeless 
dub,"  and  he  flattered  himself  he  could  detect  a 
thorough-bred,  man  or  woman,  in  any  guise.  That 
was  why  he  championed  the  Duchess  of  Few 
Clothes  from  the  start.  That  led  him  to  remark: 
"  The  young  fellah  who  saws  catgut  up  there  is  a 
gentleman  born,  or  I'm  a  Jew." 

Each  year,  at  the  beginning  of  Lent,  the  Far- 
sons  were  accustomed  to  leave  their  town  house  and 
to  come  to  the  hotel  for  a  few  weeks  before  going 
to  California  to  spend  March.  Incidentally  this 
time  their  stay  resulted  in  adding  a  new  name  to 
the  list  of  the  Duchess's  "  gentlemen  friends  "  and 
in  providing  the  young  musician  a  fresh  diversion 
from  his  ennui. 

46 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

In  fact,  he  never  quite  recovered  from  the  effect 
of  the  first  spectacular  entry  of  the  Parsons  upon, 
the  dining-roon 

A  sudden  stir  among  the  waiters  and  a  stiffening 
in'their  backs  betokened  the  approach.  Then  fol 
lowed  the  rush  of  the  head-waiter  to  receive  the 
master  of  the  house  and  to  conduct  him  in  state 
to  a  table  specially  reserved,  the  most  conspicuous 
in  the  room.  Lastly  there  ensued  the  march  of  the 
grand  Alonzo  A.  himself,  a  step  or  two  preceded 
by  his  regal  daughter.  The  musician  experienced 
unholy  glee. 

The  glistening  shirt-bosom  of  Alonzo,  studded 
with  one  huge  pearl,  shone  like  the  heraldic  shield 
strung  from  the  neck  of  a  famous  knight.  His 
leonine  head  was  tilted  so  far  back  that  its  base 
pressed  upon  his  collar,  and  the  grey  tuft  of  his 
imperial,  waxed  to  a  diminishing  point,  would  have 
impaled  a  foe,  as  upon  a  lance.  How  the  grand 
man  swung  his  long  legs  from  the  hips;  how  he 
humped  his  nervous  shoulders;  how  he  displayed 
his  lofty  consciousness  of  constituting  the  one  pos 
sible  cynosure  of  all  beholding  eyes !  And  as  he 
strutted  gloriously,  he  pulled  his  nose  at  intervals, 
the  end  of  it  apparently  forming  the  focus  of  his 
sensibility.- 

47 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  What  melodrama !  "  remarked  the  musician 
to  himself.  "  Deprived  of  ostentation,  neither  he 
nor  his  offspring  could  survive  a  year.  Observe 
how  the  old  pomposity  looks  proudly  around,  like 
a  king,  just  before  he  sits  him  down. — Gad,  but 
the  girl's  a  stunner!  " 

Miss  Parson  conferred  the  benefit  of  her  full 
face  upon  the  gallery,  whereas  Alonzo  A.  but  ex 
posed  his  profile.  She  was  still  and  haughty,  but, 
notwithstanding,  quite  as  pretentious  as  her  father, 
for  whom  possibly  she  was  a  little  conscious.  That 
she  might  be  conscious  for  herself  also,  the  musi 
cian,  some  few  moments  later,  would  have  as  con 
fidently  affirmed. 

Magnificent,  without  qualification,  was  the  ver 
dict  she  compelled  from  him.  While  young  in 
years,  she  was  more  the  woman  than  the  girl,  her 
beauty  in  its  luxuriant  prime  like  the  bloom  of  a 
rose.  The  future  might  some  time  find  her 
grossened  as  in  the  near  past  doubtless  she  must 
have  seemed  too  meagre  for  her  bones;  but  at  this 
present  she  was  perfect,  orbed,  and  tinted,  luscious 
as  some  rich  fruit  served  on  a  plate  of  gold. 

He  criticised — it  was  his  foible:  Of  piquant 
touch  or  winsome  charm  or  demure  grace  she  was 
conspicuously  deprived,  since  that  imperial  endow- 

48 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

ment  with  which  she  was  blessed,  was  obtrusive, 
overpowering  in  its  claim  upon  the  sense  and  not 
the  sense  of  sight  alone.  Perhaps  the  evidence 
she  everywhere  received  of  the  effect  she  produced, 
was  accountable  for  her  too  pronounced  hauteur. 

If  her  pride  was  partly  a  defense,  her  apathy 
was  wholly  artificial,  so  surmised  the  speculative 
musician.  Her  full  lip  held  a  sulk  in  half  sup 
pression,  her  glowing  eyes  were  cloudy :  both  were 
witness  to  her  discontentment  rather  than  to  her 
boredom,  and  signified  that  she  was  more  rebellious 
in  her  present  mood  than  indifferent  temperament 
ally.  Far  from  the  last;  for  suddenly  some  day, 
he  felt  assured,  she  would  awaken,  and  then  she 
would  be  intense.  Her  roused  passion  would  make 
large  demands,  nor  would  she,  with  her  imperious 
will,  hesitate  to  seize,  if  she  could,  all  and  what  she 
wanted. 

Forthwith  the  musician  began  wondering  if  at 
bottom  she  were  not  underbred;  if  beneath  the 
manner  imposed  by  education  and  adopted  from 
approved  models,  finished  as  the  reproduction  on 
her  part  might  seem,  there  did  not  exist  the  ma 
terialism  of  the  barbarian  and  the  temper  of  the 
pleb.  He  fancied  it  was  probable. 

Thus  each  succeeding  night  the  Farsons  dined 

49 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

in  state,  and  were  ceremoniously  served,  and  the 
dull  procedure  seemed  likely  to  continue  without 
incident.  But  there  came  an  evening  when  without 
preliminary  the  beauty  abruptly  chose  to  illustrate 
the  truth  of  the  musician's  theory  concerning  her. 

To  speak  truth,  he  had  already  suspected  what 
was  her  trouble  before  she  had  determined  to  con 
fide  it  to  his  mercy.  Nor  could  it  be  said  that  he 
was  at  all  surprised  or  in  any  way  elated.  He  was 
so  much  accustomed  to  the  capitulation  of  woman's 
looks. 

However,  what  Miss  Farson  chose  to  do,  she 
did  without  pretense  of  reluctance  or  suggestion  of 
coquetry.  There  was  nothing  in  the  deed  to  en 
gage  participation  on  his  part,  or  to  pique  him  to 
curiosity. 

It  was  candid,  honourable,  and  could  not  be 
despised.  And  having  done  it,  she  desisted  ut 
terly.  It  was  as  if  she  would  have  him  believe: 
"I  did  it,  once  and  for  all,  to  let  you  know.  There 
is  no  mistake,  my  eyes  confessed  the  truth.  A 
woman,  who  is  proud,  is  to  be  believed." 

But,  if  flattered,  nay  if  pleased,  he  was  not 
excited  by  this  proffer  of  acquaintance  with  another 
phase  of  "  the  eternal  feminine."  The  musician 
had  suffered  large  experience  of  the  same,  had  had 

50 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

life  spiced  perhaps  too  hot  for  him,  so  that  any 
promise  now  of  a  serious  affair  alarmed  his  pru 
dence  even  more  than  it  could  gratify  that  peren 
nial  vanity  which  is  every  man's.  Indeed,  the  fol 
lowing  morning  found  him  consciously  annoyed. 
With  a  smile  half  irritable  he  asked  of  himself — 
Was  not  even  obscure  penury  to  save  him  from  the 
harassment  of  women's  favour?  Was  he  still  so 
much  a  fool  he  did  not  realize  that  in  the  past  the 
dearest  girls  of  all  had  occasioned  him  less  of 
felicity  than  of  vexation?  What,  he  had  come  to 
philosophic  calm,  had  attained  thirty  years,  and 
yet  was  to  be  tempted  by  a  woman ! 


A 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  COMMENT  OF  THE  LOBBY. 

FTER  dinner  Mr.  Farson  conducted  his 
daughter  to  the  elevator  and  then  himself 
crossed  the  lobby  to  procure  a  cigar. 

The  bell-hops,  who  were  grouped  in  readiness 
to  answer  the  summons  "  Front!  "  and  who,  like 
alert  fox-terriers,  were  constantly  looking  for 
trouble,  remarked  the  majestic  advent  of  the 
owner  of  everything  in  sight. 

'  The  main  guy,"  the  foremost  hop  announced. 

"  The  floor  shakes  when  he  walks,"  a  second 
remarked. 

"  He  leaves  a  wide  wake  after  him  like  the 
Milwaukee  whaleback,"  commented  a  third. 

"  Bet  the  old  papa-guy  has  got  hisself  dead  stuck 
on  Duchess,"  the  first  audaciously  surmised. 

"  But  she  ain't  on  to  his  Nibs  a  little  bit  herself. 
She's  too  much  up  in  the  air  to  see  her  own  feet," 
was  the  criticism  evoked. 

"  Pooh,  don't  fool  yourself, — she  knows  where 
she  gets  off  at.  Women  is  like  idjits,  they  sees 
more  than  they  thinks, — they're  all  of  'em  sly  as 

52 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

cats."  The  speaker,  a  "  boy  "  of  forty,  had  be 
come  so  cynical  after  twenty  years  in  service  that 
he  was  credulous. 

Step  by  step  as  the  grand  Alonzo  A.  approached 
the  cigar  stand  his  pomposity  relaxed  and  an  ex 
pression  of  paternal  tenderness  overspread  his 
face.  The  Duchess  welcomed  him  with  cordiality, 
— was  she  not  thankful  for  the  protection  his  kind 
ly  notice  had  afforded  her? 

She  extended  a  slim,  white  hand  across  the 
glass  case. — "  And  will  Mr.  Parson  have  a  pana- 
tella  of  the  kind  he  likes,  or  a  perfecto  of  the 
sort  that's  good  for  him  this  evening?  "  Her 
smile  was  a  trifle  mischievous;  men  in  their  little 
ways  she  found  such  oddities. 

He  made  his  usual  punctilious  selection,  and  that 
important  duty  done,  he  deeply  sighed.  She  in 
quired  solicitously  after  his  health. 

"  I'm  passably  well,  child,  in  body  passably 
well,"  he  answered  dolefully.  "  But  my  mind's 
tired,  my  nerves  are  worn.  I've  been  upon  a 
strain,  a  stupendous  strain,  such  as  few  men  could 
endure,  I  suppose. — Ah,  these  titanic  responsibil 
ities!  They  crush  the  greatest  down,  and,  child, 
I  will  confide  in  you,  the  glory  they  confer  in  no 
wise  compensates  for  the  burden  they  entail." 

53 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  I'm  sorry  to  hear  you  are  so  tired,"  she  re 
sponded  sympathetically.  It  occurred  to  her  a  dose 
of  admiration  might  be  the  tonic  of  which  he  stood 
in  need.  "  And  what  great  project  is  it  Mr.  Far- 
son  has  originated  to-day  that  has  tuckered  him 
out  so?  Do  tell  me  all  about  it;  I'm  interested 
to  beat  the  band."  She  looked  enthusiasm. 

But  his  leaden  spirits  refused  to  lighten.  In 
stead,  he  pulled  his  preposterous  nose  and  rumi 
nated  sadly,  in  the  fashion  of  that  stately  gro 
tesque  bird,  the  pelican.  "  Do  not  ask  me,  child," 
his  voice  entreated  plaintively.  "  My  brain  is 
fagged,  indeed.  Herculean  labours,  I  assure  you, 
were  required  to  reduce  it  to  its  present  utterly 
deliquescent  state."  His  nervous  hand  smoothed 
the  oppression  of  his  brow. 

She  was  called  to  serve  a  customer,  and,  as  she 
turned  away,  a  flicker  of  a  smile  traversed  her  lip. 
But  she  chided  her  own  levity:  "  Poor  old  dear, 
it's  just  as  real  to  him  as  if  it  were  truly  so.  And 
he's  as  nice  as  he's  ridiculous.  Poor  soul,  he's 
thirsty  for  a  little  praise,  and  he  don't  get  much 
of  the  article  at  home,  I  guess.  I'll  indulge  him." 

"  I  can  tell  in  a  minute,  Mr.  Farson,  when  you 
have  made  an  unusually  hard  day  of  it,"  she  re 
sumed.  "  Every  great  worker  has  not  only  to  do 

54 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

the  work  but  to  pay  for  it  with  his  nerves  after 
wards,  I  guess." 

He  sunned  himself  in  her  sympathy  until  he  was 
warm.  "  Your  appreciation,  child,  is  very  sweet 
and  comforting.  Comprehension,  the  comprehen 
sion  of  a  loving  worship,  is  the  choicest  and  most 
rare  experience  that  can  enter  any  life.  Every 
great  soul  longs  for  comprehension,  but  seldom 
finds  it  this  side  of  the  grave.  So  with  Napoleon, 
who  was  lonely  on  the  throne  as  he  was  on  St. 
Helena's  isle.  So  with  us  all  who  step  forward 
from  the  common  ranks  of  men  to  assume  the 
leadership  in  vast  enterprises  and  to  project  stu 
pendous  schemes  that  result  in  the  uplifting  of 
humanity.  Ah,  great  souls,  believe  me,  more  than 
humble  souls  need  sympathy.  True,  they  can  go 
on  in  their  own  unaided  strength,  but,  notwith 
standing,  they  generally  are  parched  for  want  of 
perfect  faith  and  due  appreciation." 

"  That's  so,"  agreed  the  Duchess,  flatly,  unable 
to  pitch  her  response  in  the  high  key  of  his  rhetoric, 
although  much  moved  by  it.  "  My  own  poor 
father,  though  of  course  he  was  quite  a  lowly  man 
compared  to  you,  Mr.  Farson,  I'm  sure  needed 
sympathy  and  never  got  any.  I  was  so  young  and 

55 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

silly  I  could  not  understand  then,  but  I  do  now. — 
It  makes  me  able  to  sympathize  in  your  case." 

"  Ah,  it  is  a  way  all  daughters  seem  to  have." 
He  shook  his  mournful  head.  "  My  own  never 
stops  to  ask  what  I  have  done  during  the  day; 
she  contents  herself  with  announcing  what  I  am 
expected  to  do  for  her  in  the  evening.  Why,  tired 
as  I  am  to-night,  I've  got  to  go  somewhere,  when 
I  yearn  to  remain  at  home  and  partake  of  sincere 
fire-side  consolation." 

His  pathetic  head  drooped.  But  presently  he 
looked  up  with  a  new  thought  in  his  eyes.  "  I 
can't  believe  you,  child.  I  fear  you  have 
been  slandering  yourself.  It's  impossible  for  you 
to  have  been  other  than  a  dutiful  and  comforting 
daughter:  I  can't  conceive  you  otherwise,  just  as 
I  couldn't  your  making  any  other  sort  of  wife." 

"  Oh,"  she  laughed,  a  bit  nervously,  "  I've  been 
improved  some  since  by  suffering  and  experience. 
All  we  giddy  young  things  are  the  same  until  we've 
suffered  some  ourselves,  Mr.  Parson."  Alarmed 
by  the  too  expressive  response  of  his  face,  she  has 
tened  to  interest  his  vanity  again:  "  But  you  have 
not  told  me  just  what  you've  done  to-day. — You 
started  to.  I  know  you've  done  tremendously,  or 
you  wouldn't  be  so  tired." 

56 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

He  resumed  his  great-man  pose,  smiling  his 
grand,  mysterious,  melancholy  smile.  "  Napoleon 
is  said  to  have  used  up  three  secretaries  a  day. 
Weil,  I,  since  ten  o'clock  this  morning,  have  com 
pletely  exhausted  three  stenographers.  I  worked 
them  strenuously  until  I  perceived  the  pace  I  set 
was  too  much  for  them.  Then  I  bade  them  desist. 
Napoleon  would  have  urged  them  until  they 
dropped.  But  thoughtfulness  for  his  inferiors 
never  was  a  characteristic  of  Napoleon,  and  there 
is  where,  much  as  I  admire  the  stupendous  Cor- 
sican,  I  am  pleased  to  be  different  from  him.  In 
all  else  he  stands  a  monument." 

Awe,  it  was  patent,  was  demanded  of  her,  and 
awe,  therefore,  the  Duchess  duly  manifested.  Like 
the  late  Mrs.  Parson,  the  cigar  girl  experienced 
extreme  reluctance  to  hurt  the  tender  susceptibili 
ties  of  the  grand  Alonzo,  if  care  of  hers  could 
avoid  doing  so.  "How  marvelous!"  she  ex 
claimed.  "  Just  to  think  of  it,  three  stenographers 
in  a  day !  " 

Mr.  Farson  felt  that  one  individual,  at  least, 
realized  his  magnitude.  "  Ah,  child,"  he  mur 
mured  fatuously,  "  if  a  man  could  only  be  blessed 
with  a  daughter  such  as  you,  he  could  accomplish 
Napoleonically  every  day  instead  of  but  occasion- 

57 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

ally  once  in  awhile.  But  I  suppose  I  must  resign 
myself  to  my  desolate  doom."  Dew  of  self-com 
passion  moistened  his  eyes. 

A  sudden  sense  of  how  absurd  was  this  melo 
drama  on  his  part  nearly  got  the  better  of  her 
pity  and  on  pretense  of  putting  a  box  away  she 
stooped  behind  her  case  to  laugh  a  few  breaths. 
"  It's  so  real,  so  real  to  him,"  she  found  it  neces 
sary  to  reiterate  in  thought.  Aloud  she  said  help 
fully:  "  Do  cheer  up,  Mr.  Farson.  You  have  a 
few  friends  left,  and  anyway  I  know  where  one  of 
them  is." 

"  Ah,  but  it  is  sweet  to  me,"  he  assured  her. 
"  Bless  you  for  your  pure  sympathy.  No  money 
or  rank  could  offer  me  the  consolation  you  bestow 
as  the  free  gift  of  your  good  heart.  The  loneli 
ness  is  lifted  off  my  soul  at  least  for  this  one 
night." 

Mr.  Farson  strode  away  as  she  turned  to  an 
swer  the  demand  of  a  customer. 

Miss  Farson,  who  after  dinner  had  been  left  by 
her  father  at  the  elevators,  while  waiting  was  ac 
costed  by  Colonel  Patten. 

The  haberdasher  was  rich,  for  one  thing;  he 
had  a  distinguished  record  in  the  Civil  War,  for 
another.  Then  Chicago  was  so  new  and  everybody 

53 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

had  been  equal  so  recently  that  the  friends  of  Col 
onel  Patten's  youth  were  now  the  fathers  of  Chi 
cago's  heiresses.  Besides,  he  was  so  presentable 
in  figure  and  refreshing  in  speech  that  many  were 
quite  willing,  at  opportune  moments,  to  waive  the 
fact  that  for  pastime  he  sold  shirts. 

To  bow  familiarly  to  a  millionaire  clubman,  to 
chat  two  moments  with  some  acknowledged  woman 
of  fashion  in  the  precincts  of  the  Pantheon  con 
stituted  the  most  delectable  of  pleasures  to  Col 
onel  Patten.  It  was  as  far  as  he  ever  penetrated 
into  society,  but  it  sufficed  for  him. 

"  You  are  more  beautiful  than  ever  this  winter, 
I  tell  your  father."  Colonel  Patten  delivered  his 
compliments  as  he  inflicted  his  disparagements, 
head  on. 

Miss  Farson  condescended  to  be  gracious: 
"  And  I  trust  your  health  is  good,  Colonel  Patten." 

"  If  I  were  any  better,  Miss,  you  couldn't  hold 
me."  He  puffed  out  his  military  torso,  and  bent 
his  flexible  stick  nearly  double  in  his  two  hands. 
"  But  I'd  like  to  think  I  could  live  life  over  again, 
the  girls  now  all  are  so  pretty, — as  pretty  as  little 
red  wagons,"  he  added,  with  a  smack. 

Miss  Farson  allowed  herself  to  smile.    "  Oh,  if 

59 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

only  the  young  men  were  as  handsome  as  some  old 
men  that  I  know." 

The  gallant  haberdasher  bridled  like  a  woman. 
But  in  his  response  he  showed  that  an  alert  eye 
was  open  on  either  side  the  high  arch  of  his  aris 
tocratic  old  nose.  "  Oh,  I  don't  know.  I  guess 
there's  a  chap  in  the  gallery  up  there  who,  if  he 
lives  to  be  as  young  as  I  am,  will  be  about  as  hand 
some."  He  congratulated  himself  on  the  happy 
faculty  of  his  presumption. 

She  was  far  too  haughty  to  admit  surprise.  "  I 
quite  agree  with  you,  Colonel  Patten.  He  is  the 
one  young  man  I've  seen  who  could  possibly  serve 
as  your  successor." 

"  What's  more,"  said  Colonel  Patten,  briskly, 
"  he  is  a  thorough-bred.  I've  been  taking  his 
measure  myself." 

Her  dark  eyes  flashed  a  bit. — "  I  suppose  you 
mean  a  gentleman."  She  stiffened. 

"  No,  I  don't,  excuse  me,"  excepted  Colonel 
Patten.  "  There's  a  difference.  I'm  not  exactly 
a  gentleman  myself,  but  I'm  a  thorough-bred. 
Miss  Vantage,  the  cigar-girl  entertaining  your 
father  over  there,  you  wouldn't  call  a  lady,  but, 
by  gad,  she's  thorough-bred  down  to  her  ankle 
bones. — Now,  you're  both,  Miss  Farson.  And 

60 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

that  musician  chap's  both,  too,  or  will  be,  as  soon 
as  he  quits  fiddling  for  a  living." 

"A  little  fine  drawn,  Colonel  Patten,"  Miss 
Farson  commented,  drily.  "  But  I  must  take  the 
elevator."  And  returning  a  cool  nod  to  the  haber 
dasher's  sweeping  bow,  she  passed  into  the  car 
and  was  borne  aloft. 

"  Did  I  put  my  foot  in  it,  or  didn't  I?  "  queried 
Colonel  Patten  to  himself.  "  Pshaw,  mebbe  she's 
mad  a  little  now,  but  ten  to  one  she'll  like  it,  when 
she  thinks  it  over." 

He  smiled  a  worldly-wise  and  kindly  smile  be 
neath  his  silvery  mustache,  and  strolled  across  the 
lobby  to  his  favourite  corner,  which  the  irreverent 
bell-hops  dubbed  "  Papa-Guy's  Roost."  There  he 
found  seated  Truesdale  Blish,  his  stylish  clerk,  and 
two  or  three  ancient  "  pals  "  besides. 

This  group  beheld  Alonzo  A.,  after  leaving  the 
cigar  stand,  march  up  to  the  clerk's  desk,  behind 
which,  on  this  evening,  Fleece  presided.  Bell-boys 
ceased  their  tittering,  key-clerks  became  unnatur 
ally  industrious,  the  chief  clerk  himself  assumed 
a  comically  attentive  air,  as  the  lord  and  master 
of  all  their  fortunes  drew  nigh. 

And  he,  recalling  how  men  shrank  before  Na~ 
61 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

poleon's  piercing  glance,  endeavoured  to  screw  his 
own  brown,  plaintive  orbs  into  a  fierce  glare. 

"  Fleece,  come  here!  "  ordered  the  grand  Alon- 
zo,  in  a  loud  voice. 

The  obese  clerk  whirled  nimbly  to  obey  and 
tipped  forward  in  a  succession  of  obsequious  bows 
to  a  place  at  the  desk  opposite  the  tall  proprietor. 
"  Yes,  Mr.  Farson,  yes,  sir,  yes." 

"  Fleece,"  proclaimed  Alonzo  A.,  not  only  to 
the  clerk  but  to  the  listening  throng,  "  Fleece,  I 
don't  at  all  like  the  way  things  are  being  run  here, 
let  me  tell  you  that." 

Fleece  again  delivered  his  quick,  dumpy  bow, 
almost  knocking  his  round  head  on  the  marble 
desk.  ''  What  orders  would  you  like  to  give, 
sir;  what  changes  commend  themselves  to  you?  " 

"  Commend,  Fleece,  is  not  the  word,  let  me  tell 
you  that.  I  direct,  I  command,"  grandiloquently 
asserted  Alonzo  A.,  impaling  the  humble  clerk  upon 
the  fury  of  his  eye.  "  Fleece,  I've  half  a  mind 
to  turn  you  off  to-morrow;  I  would,  by  George,  if 
you  hadn't  been  a  landmark  here  since  first  the 
Pantheon  opened.  But  we  employers  have  to 
stomach  a  good  deal,  we  capitalists  are  imposed 
upon  increasingly  in  this  anarchistic  age.  Still, 
there  are  limits,  Fleece, — some  things  I  won't  tol- 

62 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

erate,  let  me  tell  you  that.  The  bell-boys  are  too 
lazy,  the  porters  are  all  slow,  and  it's  requisite  that 
you,  Fleece,  pick  yourself  up  and  move.  The 
Pantheon,  I  insist,  must  be  the  liveliest  place  be 
tween  New  York  and  California,  or  I'll  know  the 
reason  why.  Let  me  tell  you  that,  let  me  tell  you 
that." 

Having  thus  quelled  the  clerk,  who  simulated 
trepidation  under  the  hail-storm  of  the  great  man's 
wrath,  Mr.  Farson  slowly  gazed  about  him  in  a 
circle,  to  observe  if  the  neutral  spectators  were  not 
impressed  with  his  Napoleonic  method  of  straight 
ening  things  out.  Satisfied  with  the  effect  pro 
duced,  he  turned  to  go,  but  not  before  he  had  cast 
a  look  almost  of  affability  on  Fleece,  with  whose 
conduct  he  was  well  pleased.  And  as  he  stalked 
off,  he  wondered  if  the  clerk  would  not  appreciate 
an  extra  week  of  vacation  in  the  coming  summer. 

Fleece  recovered  promptly  from  the  wigging  he 
had  received  and  proceeded  about  his  business  in 
the  same  old  easy  style.  Soon  afterwards,  how 
ever,  he  emerged  from  behind  the  desk  to  have 
a  word  with  Colonel  Patten  and  the  group. 

"  Heard  the  old  ten-pin  lay  down  the  law, 
didn't  you?  "  he  asked. 

'*  We  ain't  so  old  we  can't  hear  a  jackass  bawling 

63 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

through  a  megaphone,"  snorted  Colonel  Patten,  in 
reply. 

"  I'm  paid  to  wilt,"  Fleece  explained.  "  It's  all 
in  the  bill.  We'd  hurt  the  old  man's  feelings  some 
thing  awful,  if  we  didn't  quake,  and  the  feller  who 
does  it  hardest  is  sure  to  draw  a  prize." 

"  Pshaw,"  said  Colonel  Patten,  "  there's  not  a 
kinder  hearted  old  slob  in  Cook  County  than 
Alonzo  A.  Parson,  for  all  his  guff.  He'd  do  any 
thing  for  you  and  you  know  it,  Fleece." 

"  That's  right,"  declared  Fleece  with  convic 
tion.  "  He  just  wants  to  shoot  off  his  mouth,  and 
then  he  shuts  up  and  sits  down.  He  built  the 
Pantheon  to  talk  under,  same  as  a  sounding-board. 
He  don't  know  no  more  about  a  hotel  than 
you  do  of  the  inside  of  a  church,  Colonel  Patten. 
His  man,  Casey,  's  the  real  head  of  the  works. 
When  he  whispers,  we  holler." 

As  Fleece  went  back  to  his  post,  one  of  the 
group  asked  Colonel  Patten  what  he  thought.— 
"  Humph,  to  hear  Alonzo  talk,  you'd  think  he 
was  the  biggest  damn  fool  alive.  But  you'd  fool 
yourself.  Money  talks  some,  too,  and  you  don't 
want  to  forget  he's  got  more  money  than  when  his 
old  dad  died." 

"  Why,  I  supposed  everybody  out  here  had  made 

64 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

their  money,"  rather  superciliously  interjected 
Truesdale  Blish,  affecting  what  he  supposed  was 
the  New  York  point  of  view.  Colonel  Patten  had 
recently  imported  him  to  sell  bathrobes  and 
pajamas  that  were  imported  too. 

"  He  inherited  his,  A.  A.  Farson  did,"  snapped 
Blish's  employer.  "  And  he's  shed  it  like  a  sprink 
ling  cart  all  his  life,  too.  I've  known  him  for 
forty  years, — used  to  call  on  the  girls  together 
when  we  were  young.  Some  people  think  it  smart 
to  smile  at  him  out  of  one  side  of  their  mouths; 
but,  by  gad,  he  has  produced  results.  He  built  this 
Pantheon,  and  it  pays  twenty-five  per  cent." 

"  Per  cent  seems  to  be  about  the  whole  argu 
ment  in  Chicago,"  sneered  Truesdale  Blish,  from 
a  height  of  Bostonian  culture. 

"  Or  in  New  York,  or  anywhere  else,  I  guess," 
snorted  Colonel  Patten,  hitting  his  varnished  boot 
a  smart  rap  with  his  stick.  "  Some  fools  call  the 
Pantheon  Parson's  bull-luck.  Mebbe  that's  so; 
but,  damn  it  all,  there  ain't  anything  metaphysical 
about  me,  nor  much  that  I  ever  saw  about  other 
people,  when  it  comes  to  money.  It's  the  tin  that 
counts,  and  A.  A.  Farson's  got  it,  dead  loads  of  it. 
That's  all  I  know  and  all  I  want  to  know." 

Truesdale  Blish   felt  "  squelched  " :    he   made 

65 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

some  sorry  endeavour  to  appease  his  irate  em 
ployer. 

"  That's  all  right,  my  boy,"  interrupted  the  old 
man.  "  When  you've  grown  old  enough  to  part 
your  hair  on  one  side,  you'll  know  more.  And 
until  you  do,  swim  with  the  current  and  don't  let 
the  wet  get  into  your  mouth.  That's  policy."  And 
Colonel  Patten  arose  and  moved  away. 

Scarlet  to  his  ears,  Blish  followed  suit.  He 
meant  to  go  upstairs  and  change  his  trousers  for 
the  fifth  time  that  day. 


66 


CHAPTER   VII. 

AN  OLD  FOOL  AND  A  YOUNG  SNOB. 

I  AM  just  about  to  take  a  drink, — I  occasion 
ally  take  a  drink, — won't  you  join  me?  "    Mr. 
Parson's  invitation  was  extended  with  pomp 
ous  affability,  and  Truesdale  Blish  accepted  with 
becoming  modesty.    "My  daughter,"  explained  the 
grand  Alonzo,  "  has  just  sent  me  word  she  will 
not  be  down  for  half  an  hour,  which,  perhaps,  you 
will  help  me  waste." 

The  clerk  had  waited  upon  the  millionaire  in 
the  shop,  and,  meeting  here  in  the  Pantheon,  the 
great  man  had  condescendingly  recognized  him. 
The  one  flattered  the  other  with  his  gratitude  there 
for;  the  other  flattered  himself  upon  the  adhesion 
of  a  new  worshipful  admirer. 

Rich  potentate  and  hand-to-mouth  salaried  man 
seated  themselves  at  a  corner  table  in  the  gorgeous 
bar-room  of  the  Pantheon.  The  corner  was  pur 
posely  selected  by  Mr.  Parson.  The  moment  his 
wandering  eye  had  lighted  on  the  young  man,  an 
uncontrollable  impulse  had  taken  possession  of 
Alonzo  A.  The  impulse  was  characteristic.  He 

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Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

must  confide,  and  the  first  sympathetic  tempera 
ment  he  encountered  he  commonly  impressed  into 
service  as  confessor. 

The  great  man  seemed  pensive.  Lugubriously 
he  pulled  his  nose  and  sighed  as  if  burdened  with 
mysterious  woe.  Blish,  to  dispel  the  melancholy, 
praised  the  Pantheon  and  the  foresight  which  had 
erected  it. 

"  Ah,  yes,  my  dear  young  friend,"  Alonzo  A. 
responded,  "  but  what's  success  without  commen 
surate  appreciation?  What  is  the  most  stupen 
dous  of  achievements,  if,  after  it  is  finished,  one  is 
left  lonely  and  unloved?  It's  dust  and  ashes,  let 
me  tell  you  that." 

The  clerk,  who  was  a  skilled  gossip,  drew  Mr. 
Farson  out.  "  But  I  should  fancy  you  would  find 
some  compensation  in  the  universal  public  honour 
and  esteem  accorded  you." 

'  True,  to  a  degree,"  assented  the  grand  Alonzo, 
swelling  visibly.  "  But  I  was  not  concerned  with 
the  plaudits  of  the  crowd;  I  was  considering  the 
more  intimate  appreciation  and  heart-to-heart  sym 
pathy  which  is  the  prerogative  of  the  home.  Prom 
inence  should  be  shunned,  my  dear  young  friend, 
as  is  destruction;  the  contentment  of  the  cottage 
and  the  satisfaction  of  unworldly  love  are  the 

68 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

sweetest  and  most  enduring  pleasures  of  life.  For, 
let  me  tell  you,  this  stately  life  I  lead  has  no  glow 
in  It  to  warm  the  heart.  Profit  by  my  example, 
young  man,  I  admonish  you."  His  laureled  head 
he  shook  in  disillusion. 

"  I  fancy  that  I  understand  in  part,"  the  clerk 
ventured,  softly.  "  But  it  is  as  old  as  the  prophets, 
is  it  not,  the  desolation  of  splendour  and  the 
weariness  of  greatness?" 

"  It  is,  it  is,"  mourned  Mr.  Parson.  "  Napoleon 
himself,  colossal  builder  that  he  was,  was  con 
scious  of  it,  let  me  tell  you  that. — Dust  and  ashes, 
dust  and  ashes,"  he  repeated.  Then  he  leaned 
suddenly  across  the  table,  in  his  brown  eyes  ap 
pearing  his  whole  plaintive  soul.  "  Tell  me,  you 
are  a  sincere  young  man,  am  I  too  old,  too  passe, 
think  you,  to  inspire  affection  in  a  woman,  a  young 
woman,  let  us  say?  I  speak  of  fondness,  not  of 
intellectual  appreciation  of  my  achievements  and 
career,  bear  in  mind." 

Without  hesitation  Blish  replied :  "  Why,  pray, 
should  you  not,  Mr.  Farson?  You  are  too  much 
inclined  to  under-estimate  your  own  potentiality,  I 
fear.  As  if  you  did  not  have  everything  to  bestow 
upon  a  woman." 

"  That's  exactly   it,"   moaned  the   millionaire. 

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Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Hundreds  of  women  might  wed  me  for  my 
money  and  position,  and,  indeed,  I  step  out  of 
snares  one  day  only  to  step  into  them  the  next.  It 
is  something  vastly  different  for  which  I  yearn. 
Indeed,  my  dear  young  friend,  I  do  assure  you  I'd 
part  with  all  my  fortune  and  content  myself  with 
the  prestige  of  my  achievements,  could  I  be  again 
beloved  by  some  young  creature,  who  would 
cherish  me  for  myself  alone." 

Not  for  nothing  had  the  clerk,  behind  his  coun 
ter,  dealt  with  the  whims  of  customers.  He  took 
a  firm  line  with  Alonzo  A.  now.  '  Your  discour 
agement  is  absurd,  Mr.  Farson,  if  you  will  allow 
me  to  speak  frankly.  What !  a  gentleman  of  your 
distinction,  with  your  unquestioned  powers  of  fas 
cination, — the  heads  of  nine  women  out  of  ten 
would  be  completely  turned  by  you.  I  shouldn't 
think  you'd  have  much  difficulty  in  winning  the 
heart  of  the  girl  you  want." 

The  grand  Alonzo  cheered  up  considerably 
under  this  eulogium.  He  rewarded  Blish  with  the 
concrete  facts.  '  You  are  not  wrong,  my  dear 
young  friend,  in  your  surmise  that  I  have  in  mind 
a  particular  young  woman.  True,  she  is  quite 
humbly  born  and  certainly  is  humbly  stationed; 
but  it  is  my  belief  she  is  more  likely,  on  just  that 

70 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

account,  to  be  sincere  in  any  attachment  she  may 
profess.  Is  not  that  your  opinion,  too?  Does 
not  your  judgment  coincide  with  mine?  " 

"  Very  likely,  Mr.  Farson,  very  likely,"  agreed 
Blish,  with  gravity. 

"  Well,  it  will  be  best  for  me  to  be  getting  back 
to  the  elevators,  my  daughter  may  come  down," 
said  the  millionaire,  looking  at  his  watch.  "  This 
pleasant  conference  I  do  hope  may  be  resumed 
some  later  day." 

As  the  two  proceeded  down  the  corridor  to 
gether,  he  explained :  "  I  selected  you  to  share 
my  confidence,  Mr.  Blish,  because  I  desired  a 
young  man's  advice  and  knew  you  could  be 
trusted." 

"  Of  that  you  may  be  assured,  Mr.  Farson." 

'  Then,  too,  I  suspected  that  you  might  be  a 
friend  of  the  young  lady  in  question,"  continued 
the  grand  Alonzo,  a  shrewd  suspicion  appearing 
in  his  innocent  eyes.  "  When  I  say  she  earns  her 
honourable  livelihood  in  this  hotel,  I  imagine  I 
have  as  good  as  informed  you  as  to  her  identity, 
Mr.  Blish." 

'  Yes,  I  think  I  have  my  suspicions  as  to  whom 
you  mean,"  said  the  clerk  with  a  facetise  somewhat 
forced. 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  You  are  not  then  aware  of  any  obstacle  that 
would  preclude  my  hoping?  "  inquired  Alonzo  A. 

"  I'm  sure  there  is  none,  Mr.  Parson.  If  you 
want  my  advice,  go  in  and  win,"  Blish  answered. 

As  they  turned  the  corner  leading  to  the  ele 
vators,  Miss  Parson,  herself,  stepped  out  of  one. 
Characteristically,  the  clerk  was  first  impressed 
with  the  costliness  of  her  furs  rather  than  with  the 
unusual  vehemence  of  her  beauty. 

The  grand  Alonzo,  in  the  exuberance  engen 
dered  by  a  successful  confession,  stooped  to  an 
act  of  sentimental  condescension,  such  as  his  daugh 
ter,  despairing,  expected  of  him  about  once  in 
so  often,  and,  in  private,  reproached  him  for  as 
"  the  vulgarity  of  being  effusive."  He  dared  in 
troduce  Mr.  Blish  to  his  daughter. 

"  Genevra," — he  addressed  her  in  his  most 
flourishing  manner, — "  let  me  make  known  to  you 
a  young  friend  of  mine,  Mr.  Truesdale  Blish. 
Mr.  Blish,  my  dear,  is  one  of  Colonel  Patten's 
worthy  young  men." 

The  clerk  winced.  But  Mr.  Parson,  conscious 
only  of  a  truly  democratic  sentiment  in  his  breast 
for  an  upright  young  man,  was  innocent  of  mak 
ing  an  invidious  distinction.  Blish,  however,  if 
disconcerted  for  a  moment,  was  able  to  perform 

72 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

his  bow,  a  bow,  he  fancied,  few  young  men  in 
Chicago  could  achieve.  For  he  flattered  himself 
that  if  by  reason  of  the  irony  of  fate  he  was  a 
clerk,  his  bow  demonstrated  the  aristocratic  affinity 
of  his  soul. 

Perhaps  the  haughty  girl  was  touched  by  his 
subservience.  "  Indeed,  Mr.  Blish,"  she  said,  with 
graciousness,  "  your  Colonel  Patten  is  one  of  my 
prime  favourites.  I  talk  to  him  a  bit  sometimes, 
when  I  chance  to  meet  him, — he  and  papa  knew 
each  other  when  they  were  boys.  He  is  deliciously 
original,  I'm  sure,  and  such  a  good-looking  old 
dear." 

With  which,  and  vouchsafing  to  the  worshipful 
clerk  a  faint  smile  and  the  slightest  nod,  she  swept 
grandly  out  of  the  hotel  entrance  to  her  carnage. 
Her  father  promptly  followed. 

Truesdale  Blish  stood  half  stunned,  gazing  at 
the  exit  of  the  goddess.  Then  elation  crazed  his 
mind  and  he  dared  dream  this  accidental  introduc 
tion  might  open  for  him  the  golden  gates  of  so 
ciety  in  which  he  fancied  himself  fitted  conspicu 
ously  to  shine.  He  could  not  know  Miss  Farson 
would  have  snubbed  a  mere  clerk,  without  mercy, 
had  she  not  felt  herself  beneath  the  curious  scrutiny 
of  the  musician  in  the  gallery.  Him  she  would 

73 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

not  have  infer  that  the  remote  pinnacle  upon  which 
fortune  had  established  her  forbade  aspiration. 

Blish  went  about  next  day  with  his  head  in  the 
clouds.  He  looked  down  on  his  fellow-clerks;  he 
disregarded  the  friendly  information  of  the 
Duchess's  eyes.  At  night  he  dreamed  he  was  a 
gentleman,  a  member  of  the  clubs  and  a  little  god 
in  the  exclusive  set. 

His  illusion  was  shattered  cruelly.  The  follow 
ing  afternoon  he  came  face  to  face  with  Miss  Far- 
son  in  the  street,  and  as  no  observant  musician 
was  near  by,  she  looked  Blish  through  and 
through,  as  though  he  were  a  cabman  or  a  post. 

Truesdale  Blish,  well  set-up,  good  looking,  lean 
ing  gracefully,  in  the  lobby  of  the  Pantheon, 
against  the  counter  of  our  Duchess,  while  he  prac 
tised  his  grave  compliments  upon  her,  did  not  in 
appearance  a  bit  suggest  the  high-salaried  sales 
man  in  a  fashionable  haberdashery.  Instead,  the 
uninformed  onlooker  would  have  supposed  him  a 
gentleman  of  elegant  leisure  and  pleasurable  in 
clination,  engaged  in  perfecting  an  illicit  conquest, 
—the  exact  impression,  indeed,  which  Mr.  Blish 
would  have  been  only  too  proud  and  delighted  to 
convey.  Not  even  a  substantial  advance  in  salary 
could  have  pleased  him  half  so  well. 

74 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

The  impression  produced  upon  others  he  re 
solved  should  become  a  reality  for  himself.  Why 
not?  Could  he  conceive  a  sweeter  revenge  for 
Miss  Parson's  contemptuous  treatment  than  to  de 
grade  the  creature  of  her  father's  sentimental  pas 
sion?  The  Duchess,  he  considered,  was  as  clay 
within  his  hands,  and  he  even  dreamed  that  after 
having  had  his  pleasure,  he  could  foist  his  mistress 
upon  the  Parson  family  as  Alonzo  A.'s  lawful 
wife. 


75 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

A  HINT  FROM  HEADQUARTERS. 

THE  actual  Power  in  the  Pantheon  seldom  ap 
peared  to  the  public  eye.  He  preferred  to 
slip  surreptitiously  through  doorways,  and 
was  to  be  observed,  sometimes,  vanishing  down 
corridors.  It  was  his  way.  He  inspected  the  hotel 
through  a  crack  in  the  wall,  as  it  were,  but  little 
went  on  that  did  not  reach  him  in  the  end. 

Casey  had  no  official  standing  in  the  Pantheon. 
Nevertheless,  there  was  appropriated  to  his  use  a 
small  "  hole  in  the  wall,"  a  room  in  the  rear  un 
derneath  the  grand  staircase.  It  had  three  dif 
ferent  entrances  and  was  the  strategic  key  to  the 
main  floor. 

Therein,  one  evening  at  a  late  hour,  Casey  sat. 
In  another  chair  lolled  Dubbin,  a  bell-hop,  recog 
nized  about  the  hotel  as  Casey's  pet. 

"  Policy's  the  word,  me  boy,"  taught  Casey, 
his  greenish  eyes  gleaming  through  the  slits  of  his 
diagonally  cut  lids.  'Tis  a  grand  word,  the  word 
that  elevated  me.  Roll  it  round  like  a  quid  of  fine- 
cut  in  your  mouth, — it's  edifyin'.  With  it  tucked 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

discreetly  in  your  cheek  you're  sure  to  travel  miles 
from  where  you  started  oft." 

"What  ye  givin'  us?"  inquired  the  bell-hop, 
singularly  unimpressed.  "  Yer  swell  word's  just 
the  same  as  gettin'  next,  no  more,  no  less.  The 
whole  thing's  to  butt  in,  be  there,  no  difference 
whether  it's  a  railroad  ten-pin  or  the  whole  cheese 
from  New  York.  They're  all  alike,  cheap  skates 
or  big  bugs, — every  guy  of  'em's  got  a  sweet  tooth, 
a  whole  mouthful,  for  licorice  and  sech.  Lather 
'em  with  soft  soap  thick, — they'll  grin  and  like  ye, 
and  es  likely  es  not  '11  forgit  ye,  when  they  takes 
their  leave,  at  that." 

"  You're  wise,  Peter,"  approved  Casey,  with  a 
purr.  "Policy's  my  word: — it's  deaf  and  dumb 
for  what's  too  leary  to  put  into  talk.  Policy,  tried 
on  smooth,  '11  reach  any  man,  the  foxiest  to  be 
found.  So  he  has  human  nature,  policy  '11  grip 
him,  sure." 

"  Ye  learned  human  nature  scratchin'  chins, 
Mr.  Casey,  same's  I  done  hustlin'  for  tips.  It's 
catchin'  suckers  we  both  mean."  The  dwarfed 
hop  leered  conceitedly. — "  But  I  guess  ye  didn't 
send  for  me  to  tell  what  we  both  knows  as  well 
as  the  feel  of  money  in  the  hand." 

"  Presently,     presently,"    assented     Casey,     an 

77 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

amused  twinkle  in  his  eye.  ;'  I  have  a  leetle  com 
mission,  that's  a  fact, — a  small  thing,  but  ticklish, 
so  to  say.  That's  why,  Peter,  I  wouldn't  let 
Blanchard  keep  you  discharged,  when  he  come 
a-roarin'  in  here  this  afternoon." 

"What's  doin'?"  questioned  the  hop,  eagerly. 
"A  good  killin'?" 

Casey  explained  what  was  wanted. 

"  Dead  easy,"  declared  Dubbin.  "  It  won't  be 
no  job  at  all.  May  be  ye  took  me  for  es  big  a  stiff 
es  the  fly-cop  ye've  got  round  to  catch  us  at  it. — 
Don't  worry  none,  I'll  run  his  fiddlin'  nibs  in  here 
for  ye  to  put  your  hooks  into.  He  can't  lose  me." 

"  You're  a  handy  lad  to  have  about,  Peter," 
Casey  concluded.  "But  here's  the  straight  tip; 
make  it  up  with  Blanchard." 

That  very  afternoon  the  manager  of  the  Pan 
theon,  Mr.  Blanchard,  had  had  a  characteristic 
tilt  with  Casey.  He  had  rushed  into  "  Mr.  Casey's 
office  "  with  fire  in  his  eye. 

The  manager  was  bald  and,  commonly,  most 
bland;  he  was  hook-nosed,  weak-jawed,  flabby- 
cheeked,  and  carried  a  heavy  paunch, — a  babbling, 
smiling,  dignified  Boniface  of  a  man,  who  suffered 
occasional  shrill  passions  and  attacks  of  vanity.  ''  I 
won't  have  it,"  he  screeched,  "  I  tell  you  I  won't. 

78 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

No  hop  can  sass  me,  and  before  all  the  boys,  too, 
and  not  get  discharged.  Dubbin  has  got  to  go, — 
and  he's  got  to  stay  gone,  too." 

>;  Keep  your  shirt  on,  Blanchard,"  imperturbable 
Casey  advised.  "  A  big  feller  like  you  oughtn't 
to  let  hisself  get  inflammatory  concernin'  the 
antics  of  a  little  divil  of  a  hop. — Cool  yerself  off." 
Casey's  subtle  hand  smoothed  down  the  air  as  if 
reducing  the  ruffles  in  a  yard  of  silk. 

Blanchard  exploded  apoplectically.  "  That's  it, 
that's  it, — the  little  whelp  knows  you're  back  of 
him,  damn  his  impudent  eyes.  No,  I  tell  you,  I 
discharged  him  in  front  of  the  force  and  I  ain't 
going  to  eat  my  words  and  take  him  back,  not  for 
nobody." 

'  I  would,  if  I  was  you,"  Casey  purred.  "  The 
lad's  a  foxy  lad  and  comes  in  handy  now  and  then." 

"  That's  it,  that's  it,"  bawled  Blanchard,  "  he's 
a  damn  spy  for  you  on  us  all,  and  he  knows  he's 
free  to  give  back-talk,  when  it  suits  him.  I  won't, 
I  won't, — that's  flat.  I'll  carry  it  up  to  Mr.  Far- 
son  first." 

"  You'll  what?  "  cried  Casey.  "  You'll  carry  it 
up  to  the  old  man,  will  you  ?  "  A  terrible  light 
blazed  in  the  Irishman's  green  eyes.  The  manager 
trembled  as  he  stood. 

79 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  That's  what  I  said,"  he  repeated,  with  the 
obstinacy  of  weakness. 

"  I  guess  you've  got  another  think  comin', 
Blanchard,"  Casey  announced,  with  ominous  mild 
ness.  He  unlocked  a  drawer  in  his  desk  and  took 
out  a  paper.  "  Your  letter, — put  that  in  your 
pipe.  No,  you  can't  have  it,  you  might  want  to 
tear  it  up. — You  slop  over  in  this  here,  expressin' 
your  thanks  for  the  rake-off  allowed  you  by  those 
fellers  who  hand  out  the  Pantheon  butter." 

Blanchard's  jaw  dropped.  "  How  did  you  get 
hold  of  it?  "  he  gasped. 

"Got  you  where  the  hair's  short,  ain't  I?" 
Casey  gloated.  "  Of  course  they  put  me  next, — 
what  do  you  take  them  fellers  for?"  Casey 
smoothed  the  paper  out  upon  his  knee.  "  They 
wanted  to  show  me  what  sort  of  a  buzzard  you  was. 
— Think  you'll  take  it  up  to  the  old  man,  eh?  " 

"  No,  I  don't,"  said  Blanchard,  ruefully.  "  I 
guess  you're  boss,  Mr.  Casey." 

"  Leave  it  at  that,"  said  Casey,  grimly.  "  I'll 
straighten  Dubbin  out;  you  leave  him  alone." 

14  Whatever  you  say  goes,  Mr.  Casey,"  the  man 
ager  agreed,  as  he  got  upon  his  feet. 

'  Now  you're  talkin'  sensible,"  declared  Casey, 
cheerfully.  "  A  bit  of  advice,  Blanchard, — take  it 

80 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

or  leave  it,  as  you  please. — Keep  your  shirt  on  and 
don't  get  the  jimjams  no  more.  And  refer  all  them 
contractors  up  to  me.  I  ain't  no  hog,  you'll  find, 
if  you  play  on  the  square.  Let  me  in  on  the  in 
side,  Blanchard,  every  time;  that's  my  hunch  to 
you." 

Yet  Casey  remained  a  barber.  That  is  to  say, 
he  shaved  the  grand  Alonzo  every  morning,  and 
refused  to  relinquish  the  privilege  to  any  humble 
menial.  For  Casey  understood  that  upon  the  half- 
hour  thus  devoted  to  the  Parson  physiognomy  de 
pended  all  his  fortune,  since  it  lent  him  his  patron's 
private  ear. 

"  I've  soaped  you  every  mornin'  for  four  years, 
sir,"  he  argued,  "  and  I'd  hate  to  let  loose  now." 

Mr.  Farson  sighed  with  gratification  at  the  evi 
dence  of  such  loyalty.  "  You  won't  let  me  make  a 
man  of  you,  Casey.  You  prefer  to  stay  a  menial." 

"  Not  entirely  so,  sir,  not  entirely.  While  I'm 
engaged  in  shavin'  your  face,  sir,  I  enjoy  familiar 
intercourse  with  a  great  mind,  sir." 

"  Have  your  own  way,  Casey,"  Alonzo  A.  sur 
rendered.  "  But  you  can't  prevent  me  from  suit 
ably  rewarding  your  devotion  in  my  will." 

Casey's  broad,  red  tongue,  emerging,  curled  its 
sinuous  tip  into  the  covetous  corners  of  his  mouth. 

81 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Thus  Casey  in  relation  to  his  patron  became  like 
the  private  secretary  to  an  emperor,  not  merely  the 
medium  through  whom  orders  were  transmitted, 
but  frequently  the  originator  of  the  orders  he  dis 
pensed. 

Behold  him.  He  slips  along  as  if  the  bottoms 
of  his  feet  were  rubber  and  the  floor  he  skims 
strewn  thickly  with  egg-shells.  The  slope  itself  of 
his  shoulders  is  politic  and  the  Limerick  tip  of  his 
nose  audacious,  while  dissimulation  sits  in  the 
curves  of  his  mouth.  His  skin  is  dark  and  clammy, 
its  pores  discernible.  His  yawn,  his  purr,  his 
glide,  his  green  eyes,  his  sudden  snarl, — all  are 
indicative  of  the  huge,  solemn,  blinking,  cautious 
cat  he  is. 

If  Casey  was  the  lion  of  the  Pantheon's  estab 
lishment,  then  Dubbin  was  his  jackal.  The  hop 
was  not  only  spy  for  Casey  and  companion  in  his 
secret  revels,  but  was  procurer  of  entertainment  as 
well.  Dubbin  always  had  something  new  up  his 
sleeve  and  by  his  quality  of  unexpectedness  en 
deared  himself  to  his  protector.  For  Casey,  being 
Celt  organically  and  a  man  of  business  only  by 
profession,  demanded  frequent  demolitions  of  the 
dull  round  of  humdrum  which  so  largely  composes 
life. 

82 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Once  the  barber,  while  in  New  York  with  Mr. 
Farson,  had  surprised  the  bell-hop  playing  the  line 
gentleman  in  the  purlieus  of  the  Waldorf.  Dub 
bin's  face  blanched,  but  Casey  chuckled  audibly. 
The  "  boy  "  consequently  plucked  up  spirit  and, 
later  in  the  day  while  parading  on  the  Avenue, 
had  the  assurance  to  give  Casey  the  cut  direct.  He 
justified  the  insolence  later  by  the  claim  that  it 
was  a  part  of  the  character  he  had  assumed.  That 
was  the  sort  of  humour  Casey  could  appreciate, 
and,  therefore,  a  job  was  always  open  to  Dubbin 
at  the  Pantheon,  although  it  was  a  certainty  that 
after  hoarding  tips  for  six  months'  time  he  would 
abruptly  take  French  leave  to  prosecute  his  travels. 

The  droll  and  grotesque  little  man  who  com 
menced  "  shining  up  "  to  the  musician,  rather  took 
the  latter's  fancy. 

Dubbin  was  but  a  name.  The  hop  was  a  cross 
between  Irish  and  Jew,  between  the  race  of  ad 
venturers  and  the  race  of  usurers.  Therefore  his 
mouth  was  a  caricature  and  his  nose  a  hook.  He 
was  nearly  forty;  but  his  stature  was  that  of  a  four 
teen-year-old  boy,  while  his  smooth-shaven  face, 
despite  its  seams  of  knowledge  and  of  cunning, 
was  childish  in  its  naivete.  His  bald  head  ran 
into  a  cone  above  his  ears,  which  seemed  ready  to 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

flap  on  either  side,  like  an  elephant's.  The  lower 
face  was  ornamented  perpetually  by  a  soul-moving 
grin  and  the  President  of  the  United  States  need 
not  have  been  astonished  if  one  of  those  fishy  eyes 
had  at  any  moment  "  tipped  him  the  wink."  The 
final  and  salient  characteristic  of  that  mixed  coun 
tenance  was  the  gesticulatory  power  of  the  nose. 
That  organ  twitched  up  and  down,  to  and  fro,  like 
a  free  hinge  upon  the  face,  as  the  creature  talked, 
observed,  or  thought.  The  beak  was  as  articulate 
as  are  other  people's  tongues. 

What  delighted  the  musician  most  was  what 
the  hop,  despite  his  desire  to  ingratiate  himself, 
could  not  conceal — the  contempt  of  a  spry  little 
man  of  the  world  for  a  mere  dreaming  fiddler,  "  a 
slow  guy;  one  of  them  fellers  who  don't  know 
where  they  gets  off  at." 

"  Was  ye  raised  on  a  farm?  "  Dubbin  ventured 
to  inquire. 

"  What  caused  you  to  think  so?  "  returned  the 
musician. 

''  Because,  wrhile  ye  knows  heaps  about  what 
don't  help  a  chap  a  little  bit,"  explained  the  hop, 
candidly,  "  ye  ain't  much  on  to  what  makes  the 
world  move.  I  thought  mebbe  ye  hadn't  traveled 
in  society  much." 

84 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

The  musician  was  so  much  amused  by  this  view 
of  himself  that  Dubbin  stared  in  blank  wonder. 
"  Well,  really,  Peter,"  the  former  said,  "  I  could 
scarcely  be  expected  to  know  as  much  of  the  world 
as  you  boys  who  encounter  it  in  sixty  different 
ways  each  day  in  the  hotel  here." 

The  hop  twitched  his  nose  meditatively. 
"  Looks  as  if  that  might  be  so,  sir.  We  boys  do 
see  a  lot  of  the  world,  that's  a  fact.  It  sort  of 
comes  our  way." 

Dubbin  obligingly  offered  to  show  his  new  friend 
a  thing  or  two.  He  imparted  "  sure  tips  "  on  "  the 
ponies  "  and  related  hazardous  tales  about  "  shoot 
ing  craps."  Finally  he  constituted  himself  a  sort 
of  host  to  the  musician,  induced  to  it  by  the  pity 
he  conceived  for  one  so  simple  being  involved  in 
such  a  vortex  as  the  Pantheon.  Like  all  the  lackeys 
and  retainers  generally,  he  cherished  a  personal 
pride  in  the  glories  of  the  establishment.  He  felt 
himself  part  of  it  and  looked  down  on  people  who 
frequented  meaner  edifices. 

"  I  can  show  ye  'round  the  Pantheon,  if  ye 
haven't  seen  it,  any  time  you  want  to,  Mr.  Haz 
ard,"  Dubbin  volunteered.  "  Mebbe  ye'd  like  to 
see  for  yerself  how  we  lives  at  the  Pantheon." 

"  That     I     would,"     assented     the     musician. 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

'  There  is  no  doubt  it  would  prove  a  revelation 
to  a  green  chap  like  myself." 

"  I'll  get  ye  in  behind  the  scenes,"  the  hop  boast 
fully  announced.  "  Perhaps  I'll  get  a  chance  to 
knock  ye  down  to  Casey,  too.  Casey's  the  main 
guy  here,  I  gives  ye  the  tip,  and  it  won't  hurt  ye 
a  little  bit  to  stand  in  all  ye  can  with  Casey." 

Hazard  was  stowing  his  violin  in  the  case  late 
one  night,  when  Dubbin  appeared.  The  "  boy  " 
was  out  of  livery  and  dressed  up,  in  his  own  opin 
ion,  "  fit  to  kill."  A  rose  adorned  his  button-hole, 
patent  leathers  made  his  feet  to  shine,  and  his 
derby  hat  was  new  and  "  nobby." 

"What  means  this  display?"  inquired  the  ad 
miring  musician.  '  You  have  just  dropped  in  from 
your  club,  I  suppose." 

"  Oh,  been  to  the  theatre,"  explained  Dubbin, 
slightingly.  "  Has  a  seat  in  the  bald-headed  row; 
goes  out  after  each  act  and  takes  a  drink;  and 
when  the  show's  over,  stands  'round  with  the 
mashers  and  sees  all  there's  to  see  of  the  ladies 
gettin'  in  their  carriages.  To  look  at  me,  ye'd  sup 
pose  I  has  a  balance  at  the  bank  and  lives  on  Easy 
Street." 

"  I've  no  doubt  of  it,"  said  Hazard,  warmly. 

"  Oh,  I'm  a  peach,  when  I  gets  my  war-paint 

86 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

on,"  declared  the  hop,  his  nose  wrinkling  with 
pure  pride  and  joy.  "  But  what  I  clum  up  to  this 
heaven  for,  Mr.  Hazard,  was  to  take  ye  down 
to  see  Casey.  He's  sittin'  in  his  office  all  alone." 

"  Good,"  said  the  musician.  "  I'm  with  you, 
Peter." 

"  Say,  pard,"  advised  Dubbin,  as  they  went 
down  together  (the  imminence  of  the  great  Casey 
had  reduced  them  to  a  mutuality  of  insignificance), 
;'  I  gives  ye  the  straight  tip,  ye  wants  to  talk  United 
States  to  Casey  and  to  hand  it  out  quick.  And  if 
he  springs  the  drinks,  ye'll  know  yer  next." 

Casey  welcomed  the  musician  to  his  den,  nor 
was  it  many  minutes  before  he  produced  a  flat 
black  bottle.  '  Them  that's  seen  me  take  a  smile, 
Mr.  Hazard,  is  mighty  few.  But  I  can  size  up  a 
gentleman,  when  I  see  one,  sir,  and  a  gentleman  is 
safe  to  trust  to  every  time.  Here's  to  you,  Mr. 
Hazard." 

"  To  you,  Mr.  Casey." 

''  I  guess  I'm  in  this,"  said  Dubbin,  helping 
himself  copiously. 

"  Sure,"  assented  Casey. 

"  Yer  in  luck,  Mr.  Hazard,"  the  hop  declared. 
"  Mr.  Casey  don't  make  his  friends  easy,  but  them 
he  has,  he  sticks  to." 

87 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  I  congratulate  myself,"  said  the  musician, 
smilingly.  "  Glad  to  be  down  on  your  list,  Mr. 
Casey." 

"  Stick  to  us,  Mr.  Hazard,  as  they  say,  and 
you'll  wear  diamonds."  Casey  "  tipped  "  a  sur 
reptitious  wink  to  Dubbin  that  was  intended  for 
the  musician  to  intercept. — "  Stick !  "  repeated 
Casey,  "  it's  the  only  way  to  succeed,  whether  in 
a  little  thing  like  lootin'  hotel  guests  as  Peter  does, 
or  like  graftin'  in  the  City  Hall,  as  I'd  a-done,  if 
the  Pantheon  hadn't  happened  to  been  built." 

The  musician  assented  to  Casey's  look  of  in 
terrogation:  "  Indeed,  it  is  the  correct  principle, 
as  I  have  learned  through  never  applying  it, — to 
my  cost."  And  he  broke  into  another  smile — he 
had  the  habit  of  smiling  often  at  his  own  expense. 

Casey  licked  his  lips.  "  Another  smile,  Mr. 
Hazard."  He  poured  out  the  drinks.  "  It's  to 
facilitate  acquaintance  that  God  made  liquor  for. 
— And  as  a  little  indication  of  the  sort  of  thing 
my  friendship  means,  I  may  mention,  Mr.  Hazard, 
that  I  can  put  you  next  a  piece  of  business  that'll 
recompense  you  handsome. — You're  willin',  ain't 
you?" 

"  Well,  rather,"  assented  Hazard,  curious  to 
learn  to  what  this  opening  might  lead. 

88 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  It's  this,  young  feller,"  said  Casey,  with  a 
shrewd  leer  in  his  green  eyes.  "  Mr.  A.  A.  Far- 
son,  who  owns  everything  'round  here  for  blocks, 
— you  may  have  heard  of  him."  Casey  paused 
humourously.  "  He's  lookin'  for  a  chap  can  give 
his  daughter  violin  lessons.  Miss  Parson,  she's 
dead  stuck  on  fiddle  playin',  always  was.  So  I 
asked  the  leader  of  the  orchestra  about  you  and  he 
said  you  was  to  be  recommended  both  for  your 
manners  and  your  fiddlin'." 

Hazard  laughed  softly, — the  thing  was  too 
ludicrous. 

"  Hush,"  Casey  bade,  reprovingly.  "  This  is 
a  serious  proposition,  Mr.  Hazard;  you  can't  tell 
what  it  may  mean  to  you.  It's  good  money  down, 
and  it'll  be  gettin'  your  foot  into  society  for  you, 
me  boy.  And  if  you  know  how  to  use  the  chanst, 
who  knows,  but  you  may  be  climbin'  so  far  up  you 
won't  come  down  again.  It's  up  to  you.  Of 
course  you'll  freeze  on  to  it,  Mr.  Hazard." 

The  situation  inclined  the  musician  to  deal 
frivolously.  Were  not  all  the  elements  of  comedy 
mixed  in  it?  Why  should  he  summon  up  his  birth 
right  of  gentility  and  inflate  his  poor  self  with  the 
dignity  properly  to  refuse  the  compromising  propo 
sition  with  genteel  reprobation?  If  he  had  no 

89 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

illusions  about  the  world,  he  had  none,  either, 
about  himself;  he  acknowledged  his  own  im 
portant  ego  to  be  composed  as  ridiculously  as  were 
the  egos  of  the  world  in  general.  What  warrant 
had  he,  then,  to  spurn  an  offer  that  promised 
humourous  entertainment  certainly  and  probably 
adventure  to  boot? 

Scruples  concerning  the  fundamental  economic 
facts  of  social  life  had  forced  him  to  turn  his  back 
on  friends  and  fortune  and  to  seek  afield  the  way 
of  truth  and  justice.  Yet  any  slight  adventure 
tempted  him  and  inveterately  he  yielded  to  its  in 
vitation,  stepping  jauntily  into  a  chance  boat  that 
offered  to  ferry  him  across  a  narrow  waste  of  idle 
water.  He  lived  two  lives  together,  one  lofty,  one 
fantastical. 

"  I  am  the  same  everlasting  silly  enigma,"  he 
reflected,  as  he  closed  the  arrangement  with  Casey. 


90 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A  PIECE  OF  KNIGHT  ERRANTRY. 

THE  gilt  hands  on  the  black  disk  of  the  great 
clock  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Pantheon  marked 
a  quarter  to  twelve,  as  the  musician  emerged 
from  Casey's  office  under  the  grand  staircase. 

It  was  the  Duchess's  night  to  be  on  duty,  and 
also  that  of  Loye,  the  clerk.  The  spacious  floor 
chanced  to  be  deserted, — the  guests  had  either 
gone  to  bed  or  gone  abroad  or  had  not  yet  re 
turned  from  the  theatres,  while  habitual  loungers 
had  departed  early.  The  lights  fell  in  a  glare  on 
spaces  of  mosaic,  onyx,  and  marble,  which  glis 
tened.  The  place  was  still. 

Truesdale  Blish,  who  had  been  conversing  with 
the  Duchess,  stood  at  the  elevators,  as  Hazard 
passed.  He  greeted  the  musician  cordially  and 
held  the  latter  in  talk  for  a  moment.  Apparently 
he  had  taken  quite  a  fancy  to  the  violinist,  who 
was  amused  by  the  patronage. 

Hazard  then  started  for  the  cigar  stand  to  get 
something  to  smoke  on  his  way  home  in  the  ele 
vated  train.  He  had  not  crossed  half  the  distance 

91 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

of  the  lobby  when  the  sound  of  altercation  warned 
him  of  an  unusual  scene. 

Miss  Doty,  the  "  lady  cashier,"  was  peering 
through  the  arch  of  her  window,  her  plump  face 
grinning  with  malicious  delight.  Plainly  she  had 
instigated  what  was  going  on.  Loye,  big  and  dark, 
sprawled  half  over  the  cigar  counter,  a  mocking 
cruelty  in  his  carnal  face.  The  rich  patrons  of 
the  hotel  would  not  have  recognized  their  genial 
and  obsequious  flatterer. 

The  while,  behind  the  slight  entrenchment  of 
her  cases,  stood,  white  and  trembling,  both  with 
fear  and  indignation,  the  wan  Lady  of  Cigars.— 
"  Do  you  think  it  very  manly  to  nag  a  poor  girl  so, 
when  she  hasn't  any  one  to  take  her  side,  Mr. 
Loye?" 

"  Stuff,  Dimples,  don't  get  up  on  your  ear  so 
all-fired  easy,"  retorted  the  clerk,  much  amused. 
"Ain't  I  speaking  to  you  for  your  own  good? 
Old  Farce,  he  is  dead  stuck  on  you,  you  fool,  and 
you  don't  know  enough  to  shake  that  dude  shirt- 
seller  you're  sweet  on.  You  ought  to  be  darning 
socks  in  an  orphan  asylum  instead  of  holding  down 
a  job  in  the  Pantheon,  if  you  ain't  any  more  alive 
than  that." 

92 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

The  taunts  were  as  blows.  Hazard  could  see 
her  body  shrink. 

"  I'll  tell  Mr.  Farson  what  insulting  remarks 
you  make  about  him,  unless  you  go  about  your 
business  this  minute,"  she  threatened,  in  her  des 
peration. 

Caution,  perhaps,  occurred  to  the  clerk;  but 
Miss  Doty,  noticing,  called  from  her  window: 
"  Don't  you  believe  it,  Loye,  old  boy.  She  hasn't 
got  the  nerve.  Besides,  dear  Few  Clothes  ain't 
going  to  queer  her  own  game  just  to  get  ahead  of 
a  chap  she  hates  like  you." 

"  That's  right,"  said  Loye,  reassured.  "  Old 
Farce  wouldn't  think  Dimples  so  much  of  a  fine 
lady  as  he  does  now,  if  she  tried  to  work  the  pity 
dodge  on  him."  And  vexed  that  he  could  momen 
tarily  have  respected  the  power  of  so  contemptible 
a  creature,  the  clerk,  reaching  across  the  counter, 
gripped  the  Duchess  by  the  arm. — "  Come  here, 
Dimples," — he  dragged  her  forward, — "  now  that 
you  make  an  industry  of  distributing  kisses  to  your 
gentlemen  friends,  why  not  hand  me  out  a  few  ?  " 
He  protruded  his  thick  lips  to  touch  her  cheek  as 
she  fluttered  like  a  shot  bird  in  his  grasp. 

"  Let  go,  you  big  hulk,  or  I'll  hammer  you !  " 
Hazard  raised  his  arm  to  strike. 

93 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

A  sickly  hue  suffused  Loye's  countenance.  In 
stantly  he  dropped  his  victim  and  retired  a  long 
step  backwards.  But,  when  he  perceived  who  had 
interfered,  dull,  red  anger  surged  into  the  yellow 
of  his  face. 

"  Aha,  the  gentlemanly  fiddler,"  he  sneered. 
Then  threatened:  "Tell  us  what  you've  got  to 
say  about  it,  anyway!  Your  business  is  to  fiddle 
for  the  house,  not  to  butt  into  what  don't  concern 
you  any. — By  God,  I'll  have  the  porter  put  you 
out!" 

il  In  that  case  I'll  just  hit  you  one  before  I'm 
put,"  said  Hazard,  quietly.  He  was  slim  and 
light,  but  his  eye  looked  dangerous  and  Loye 
backed  a  little. 

"  There  ain't  any  dance-music  fiddler  can  sport 
his  airs  around  here,"  Loye  snarled  viciously,  as  he 
retreated.  Hazard  followed  close. 

"  Do  him  up  proper,  Mr.  Hazard !  Punch  his 
ugly  mug  full  of  holes  fer  him!  "  piped  Dubbin, 
the  bell-hop,  who  could  be  counted  on  to  be  in  at 
every  death.  "  Black  up  his  bloody  eye! — Casey 
won't  care  a  damn.  And  I'll  put  Casey  next, — 
Casey's  yer  friend  every  pop  of  the  gun,  ye  bet. 
—Give  him  one  hot  one  fer  me!  " 

94 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Loye  had  gone  green.  He  executed  a  wide  step 
to  one  side.  "  Pshaw,  Mr.  Hazard,  we  can't 
row  here  in  the  Pantheon.  You're  too  damned 
previous  in  your  conclusions, — it  was  only  a  little 
teasing."  The  clerk  scanned  his  adversary's  face 
anxiously  and  looked  relieved  that  it  relaxed  some 
what. 

He  forced  an  ugly  conciliatory  grunt.  "  You 
ain't  much  used  to  manners  among  us  hotel  folks, 
I  guess.  We're  like  actors, — pretty  near  every 
thing  goes,  you  know.  You  were  brought  up  dif 
ferent,  of  course," — it  was  a  contemptuous  admis 
sion—  "  and  so  you  can't  be  expected  to  be  on  to 
the  fact  that  when  a  girl  has  to  hustle  for  herself 
she's  supposed  to  take  pretty  much  everything 
that's  comin'  to  her." 

'  Why,  to  be  sure,  Loye,  old  boy,"  cried  Miss 
Doty,  thrusting  her  head  out.  "  Few  Clothes  over 
there  is  too  much  stuck  up  for  what  she  does,  that's 
what's  the  matter.  But  we  didn't  mean  you  any 
harm,  did  we,  Duchess?  " 

Thus  appealed  to,  the  cigar-girl  answered  hesi 
tatingly:  "  No,  I  don't  suppose  you  did."  Then 
for  Hazard's  benefit:  "  At  least  you  needn't  fight 
about  it, — it's  not  worth  while," 

95 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  You  hear  that?  "  cried  Loye.  "  That  ought 
to  bag  your  sails  some,  I  guess."  With  his  per 
ception  of  the  lapsing  chivalrous  impulse  in  his 
opponent,  his  own  assertive  assurance  returned. 

By  a  sidelong  movement  he  regained  the  stand, 
against  which  he  leaned  one  flank.  ;'  Let  me  tell 
you  something,  excuse  me,  Mr.  Hazard.  Next 
time  you  let  your  temper  go  and  interfere,  you 
want  to  be  sure  first  you  know  what  you're  up  to. 
Parlour  manners  don't  fit  a  hotel  lobby, — see ! 
We  ain't  hurtin'  Dimples  any, — she'll  tell  you  so 
herself.  It  was  just  a  little  teasing  to  take  her 
down  a  peg,  though  to  a  refined  gentleman  like  you 
it  may  have  looked  a  trifle  rough." 

As  Loye  spoke,  he  moved  nearer  to  the  mu 
sician,  until  at  the  end  he  had  thrust  his  face  almost 
into  the  latter's.  He  must  vindicate  his  courage 
to  the  "  lady  cashier,"  and,  like  a  coward,  he  cal 
culated  that  extreme  proximity  constitutes  of  itself 
immunity. 

Hazard  avoided  the  contact.  As  usual,  wrath 
with  him  subsided  into  disgust.  Besides,  his 
championship  had  been  in  a  manner  disavowed  by 
the  lady  to  be  rescued,  and  emotionalism  in  her 
behalf  seemed  superfluous,  to  say  the  least.  He 
eyed  Loye  sullenly.  "  I'd  knock  you  down  now, 

96 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

all  the  same;  but  what's  the  use.  You'd  better 
walk  off,  though,  or  I  will  still." 

The  clerk  studied  the  musician  for  a  moment, 
then  decided  upon  discretion.  At  a  safe  distance, 
however,  he  cast  back  a  malignant  look,  with  these 
words:  "  I'll  report  you  to  the  manager,  Hazard. 
We  can't  have  our  damned  fiddlers  raising  a  dis 
turbance  in  the  lobby, — see !  " 

But  Dubbin,  twitching  his  beak  in  an  ecstasy  of 
delight,  broke  out  in  jeers.  "  Report !  Report  yer 
own  self,  Loye,  ye  big,  black  stiff !  What  yer 
givin'  us,  ye  millionaire  lick-leather,  ye !  Mr. 
Hazard,  ye  cheap-skate,  's  a  gentleman  what's 
Mr.  Casey's  friend, — a  pertickler  heart-to-heart 
friend,  hear  that,  ye  slob !  .  Go  take  an  exhibition 
tumble  to  yourself  behind  yer  own  desk,  ye  wooden- 
headed  monkey;  it's  me  what'll  do  the  reportin' 
on  this  here  case,  all  that's  goin'  to  be  done." 

Loye  availed  himself  of  the  diversion  to  dis 
charge  his  electricity  on  the  head  of  the  hop. 
Better  far  have  "  taken  his  medicine  "  in  silence, 
for  Dubbin's  tongue  unlimbered  like  a  gatling  bat 
tery,  peppering  the  clerk  until  he  fled  within  the 
breastworks  of  his  desk,  figuratively,  with  tail  laid 
between  legs. 

97 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Thence  he  beseeched  rather  than  enjoined: 
"  Oh,  shut  up,  shut  up, i  Peter;  .we've  had  enough 
of  jawing!  " 

"My  eye, — wait  till  Casey  jacks  ye  up!" 
.The  hop  had  the  final  word. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  WORLD  AS  THE  DUCHESS  SAW  IT. 

THE  musician  purchased  his  cigar,  lit  It,  and 
still    lingered.      The    Duchess    regained    a 
semblance  of  composure;    but  Hazard  had 
noted  how  the  frail  hands  shook  when  she  lifted 
out  the  cedar  boxes  for  him  to  choose. 

She  set  diligently  about  locking  up  her  cases  for 
the  night  and  putting  away  the  stacks  of  news-, 
papers  and  racks  of  chewing  gum.  The  ^vhile 
she  made  some  confused  endeavour  to  express  to, 
the  musician  her  sense  of  obligation.  She  was 
quite  meek,  as  if  she  felt  herself  in  some,  way;  rep 
rehensible. 

He  disapproved  of  her  submissiveness,  asking 
sharply:  "Why  do  you  put  up  with  it?  This 
was  but  one  instance,  I  can  see.  You  should  com 
plain  ;  that  bully's  superior  would  not  tolerate  his 
persecution." 

She  shrugged  her  pathetic  shoulders.  "  I'd  only 
make  another  deadly  enemy  if  I  did,."  she  -said. 
"  And  he,  and  those  like  him,  would  find  lots  of 
mean,- invisible  ways  to  get  back  at  me."  Sud- 

99 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

denly  she  wrung  her  hands  and  laughed :  "  Oh, 
I'd  just  like  to  live  where  I  never  had  to  see  only 
blessed  cows  and  donkeys.  Why,"  she  demanded, 
with  droll  petulance,  "  are  we  so  made  up  we  can't 
any  of  us  get  along  without  the  society  of  people 
we  don't  like?  I  only  wish  I  knew." 

A  new  anxiety  changed  the  quick  face  again. 
"  I  ought  to  be  grateful  to  you,  Mr.  Hazard,  but 
I  am  so  sorry  you  interfered.  It  was  only  Loye's 
way  of  fooling,  after  all, — not  a  nice  way, — but  he 
didn't  mean  anything  much.  Now,  I'm  afraid, 
you've  made  a  bad  enemy, — he  is  revengeful." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  fancy  he  will  be  able — what  is  it 
they  say — to  get  my  job."  The  musician  disposed 
lightly  enough  of  her  fear. 

"  He  might  do  you  a  bad  turn  sometime,"  she 
foreboded.  "  And  all  on  my  account." 

"  Pooh,"  exclaimed  Hazard,  "  don't  I  stand  in 
with  Casey?  You  heard  Dubbin." 

She  sighed  relief.     "  That's  different,"  she  said. 

Indignation  returned  to  him.  "  And  I  propose 
to  let  Casey  know  how  the  clerk  treats  you.  I 
think  that  will  settle  the  gentleman  for  a  while." 

"  No,  don't,"  she  pleaded.  "  I  ask  you  not  to, 
for  my  sake.  We're  supposed  to  take  what's  com 
ing,  when  we  work  for  a  living.  If  I  must  sell 

100 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

cigars,  then  there's  a  whole  lot  of  things  I  must 
put  up  with.  That's  what  you  don't  understand, 
Mr.  Hazard.  It  isn't  merely  a  virtue  in  us  poor 
to  forgive  and  forget, — it's  pushed  on  us ;  we  have 
to  or  get  out." 

"  Why  put  up  with  it?  "  he  exclaimed.  "  You 
don't  have  to  stay  here,  do  you,  and  be  insulted? 
I'd  work  at  something  else." 

His  simplicity  lifted  her  eyebrows  in  an  expres 
sion  of  genuine  surprise.  "  Oh,  you  would,  would 
you?  I  suppose  you  think  I  can  get  anything  I 
want  by  just  asking  for  it.  That's  the  view  of 
all  you  millionaires." 

Hazard  winced.  "  But  you  aren't  tied  down 
here,"  he  argued.  "  Surely  you  aren't  a  serf  of 
the  hotel,  a  sort  of  living  fixture?  " 

"  But  what  else  is  there?  I've  tried  about  every 
thing,"  she  replied  hopelessly.  "  It's  all  the  same 
and  only  a  little  different. — And  besides,"  her 
smile  came  like  a  gleam,  "  the  Pantheon  after  all 
is  not  so  bad — I'd  miss  it  dreadfully.  You  always 
find  in  this  world  you  can  stand  anything.  Then, 
too,  anything  turns  out  like  everything.  I'd  never 
have  dreamed  I  could  have  stood  it  here;  but  I 
find  it  inteiesting."  She  turned  a  quizzical  look 

101 


Duchess  of  Few- Clothes 

on  the  musician :      "  Is  •  that  degeneration  or  il 
lumination  now  I  wonder." 

"  Oh,"  she  continued,  after  a  imoment  of  silence 
on  his  part,  "  I  know  what  you  are  thinking.  You 
wonder  if  a  lady,  born  so,  here  in  my  place, 
wouldn't  .keep;  Loye  in  order  through  respect  for 
her  quality." 

The  musician  flushed, — it  was  exactly  the  specu 
lation  in  his  mind. 

"  Poor  boy,  you  are  such  a  gentleman,"  she 
commiserated.  "  Don't  you  know  that  only  gen 
tlemen  have  respect  for  ladies?  It  isn't  a  lady  that 
menials  respect,  it's  the  silks  and  diamonds  that  a 
lady  wears.  That's  where  all  you  kirid-inten- 
tioned  people  of  the  upper-crust  fall  down." 

She  was  locking  up  her  last  panel  and  was 
putting  on  her  hat,  her  hands  working  as  fast  as 
her  tongue.  "  Besides,  Mr.  Hazard,  it  is  not  so 
bad  as  you  suppose.  Once  you  make  up  your  mind 
to  take  things  as  they  come  and  your  fellow-citizens 
as  they  are,  you'd  be  surprised  to  find  how  human 
they  are,  just  like  yourself,  and  •  how  much 
good  there  is  in  everybody,  even  the  commonest. 
'We  are  all  too  absurd,  and  half  of  the  black  vil 
lains  are  awful  sentimental  deep  underneath. 
Why,  Loye  there,  goes  three  nights  a  week  to  see 

102 


Dochess  of  Few  Clothes 

the  play  about  the  farm  down  East,  and  Dubbin 
says  the  tears  roll  down  his  cheeks  each  time." 

"  Now  Pm  all  ready  to  go  home,"  presently  she 
announced.  "You  can  escort' me  to  the-  South 
Side  L,  if  you  want  to." 

"I  go  South  myself,"  said  Hazard. 

'  Well,  then,  come  along.-  Usually,  by  myself, 
this  late  at  night,  I  have  to  put  r.-.y  head  down  and 
charge." 

In  the  elevated  railway  car' they  talked  of  the 
Pantheon/  She  chatted  cheerfully  about  her 
"  gentlemen  friends' "  in  the  hotel,  of  Mr.  Farson, 
whom  she  called  "  a  sweet  old  trot,"  of  Colonel 
Patten  who,  she  said,  was  a  sort  of  father. to  her, 
and  of  Truesdale  Blish,  with'  whose  "cultured 
manners"  she  seemed 'impressed. 

The  musician  'shrugged  his  shoulders:* 

"  Oh,"  she  contested,  "  don't  you  think  Mr. 
Blish  is  a  good  example,  in  the  best  sense,  of  a  man 
of  the  world?" 

Hazard,  rather  than  appear  disposed  to  with 
hold  anything  from  such  a  paragon;  assented  in 
stantly. 

"  He  is  very  cultured,"  continued  :the  Duchess 
with  enthusiasm.  "  Of  course,  he  should  be,  as  he 
comes  from  the  East  like  yourself.  And  he  has 

103 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

such  perfect  taste  in  everything.  I  guess  he  is 
away  up  in  art." 

"  He  certainly  has  an  admiring  expositor  in 
you,"  Hazard  commented,  in  a  dryer  tone  than  he 
was  aware  of. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know,"  she  declared,  some  colour 
flushing  into  her  pale  cheeks.  "  I'm  not  the  only 
one  who  admires  Mr.  Blish.  There's  Miss  Far- 
son.  He  was  telling  me  to-day  what  good  friends 
they  were,  and  I've  noticed  she  always  looks  sweet 
at  him,  when  she  passes  him  by.  And  Miss  Far- 
son  is  that  proud, — most  people  she  don't  notice 
any  more  than  if  they  were  sticks  of  wood." 

"  Is  the  lady  given  to  favouring  with  her  regard 
handsome  chaps  like  Mr.  Blish,  when  she  happens 
to  fancy  them?"  asked  Hazard,  innocently. 

"  Oh,  dear  no,"  answered  the  Duchess,  a  little 
shocked.  "  She's  much  too  stuck  up  for  that. 
Why,  she  has  the  reputation  of  being  the  coldest 
and  most  exclusive  society  belle  in  Chicago.  She's 
turned  down  men  by  the  car-load;  but  they  say 
she's  really  going  to  marry  Mr.  Quarles,  Valentine 
Quarles.  He's  been  after  her  for  years.  He  used 
to  be  a  Stockyards  man,  and  he  can  make  a  m:l- 
lion  in  a  minute  easier  than  such  people  as  us  can 
make  fifteen  dollars  a  week." 

104 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"Quarles!"  Hazard  exclaimed,  almost  excit 
edly.  "  Tell  me,  what  is  he  like?  " 

"  Oh,  if  you  want  to  find  out,  watch  and  you'll 
see  him  taking  dinner  with  the  Parsons  some  night 
soon.  They  say  he's  just  come  back  from  New 
York  and  England,  where's  he's  been  six  months 
getting  up  some  tremendous  deal  or  other." 

When  the  Duchess  left  the  train,  Hazard  went 
forward  into  the  smoking  car,  lighted  a  weed, 
leaned  back  in  his  seat  and  let  his  mind  go. 

How  strange,  he  felt,  that  in  this  Chicago  he 
had  imagined  a  new  and  unknown  world  in  which 
he  might  freely  experiment  and  waste  his  life  with 
out  consequence  to  anyone,  did  he  so  choose  (and 
he  was  by  no  means  decided  that  he  would  not  so 
choose),  he  should  almost  immediately  again  be 
threatened  with  entanglement  in  the  net  of  human 
relationship,  a  net  of  hopes  and  fears  and  likes  and 
loves,  of  the  same  boresome  and  responsible  pat 
tern,  indeed,  as  that  from  which,  by  a  supreme  ef 
fort,  he  had  disengaged  himself  down  East.  Was 
it  impossible  for  a  man,  he  questioned,  to  remain 
free?  Was  it  denied  to  any  man  to  continue  a 
blameless  spectator  of  the  human  comedy? 

Despite  his  will,  however,  and  his  philosophy  of 
detachment,  he  seemed  invaded  from  many  sides. 

105 


Duchess'of  Few  Clothes 

There  was  his -sympathy  for  the  predicament  of  a 
working  girl;  there  was  his  flirtation  with  an 
heiress;  and  suddenly  here  loomed  the  figure  of 
that  persistent  and  insistent  fpiend  of  his,  Valen 
tine  Quarles,  a  pushful  fellow  whom  he  loved  and 
whom  he  dreaded. 


106 


CHAPTER  XL 

"  OLD"  IRONSIDES." 

THE  musician,  from  his  gallery  a  night  or 
two  later,  witnessed  the  entrance  of  the  Far- 
sons  and  a  guest.  He  recognized  his  friend 
at  a  glance,  although  he  had  not  seen  him  for 
seven  years.  Hazard,  as  he  played,  lifted  his 
crooked  elbow  an  inch  higher,  and  from,  behind 
the  shelter  studied  narrowly  to  discover  what  had 
changed  in  Quarles. 

Visibly  the  face  seemed  more  solid,  expressed 
achievement  now,  whereas  formerly  it  had  been 
potential.  There  remained,  however,  the  char 
acteristic  economy  both  in  the  formation  and  the 
arrangement  of  the  features,  which  necessitated  a 
close  acquaintance  with  each  detail  of  the  face  be 
fore  one  appreciated  the  powerful  significance  of 
the  whole  of  it.  Then  its  revelation  was  likely  to 
burst  upon  one. 

The  broad,  full  brow,  the  square,  relentless 
chin,  the  grim  set  of  the  straight,  incisive  lips, 
the  hawk's  nose,  the  watchful  steel-grey  of  the 
steady  eyes,  the  assertive  poise  of  the  compact 

107 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

head, — had  they  been  related  to  a  small  and  puny 
body,  they  had  sufficiently  indicated  masterfulness 
of  spirit,  but  united  as  they  were  to  the  strength,  if 
not  to  the  proportions  wholly  of  a  giant,  they 
seemed  synonymous  with  force, — clean,  beautiful 
force. 

The  musician,  as  he  scrutinized  his  friend,  ex 
perienced  a  vague  envy,  an  envy  provoked  by  what 
he  felt  was  a  Philistine  admiration.  It  was  the 
same  familiar  feeling  he  had  known  in  college, 
when  "  Old  Ironsides  ''  stood,  a  stone  wall  in  the 
foot-ball  line,  the  betting  hope  of  yelling  partisans, 
immovable  as  man  can  be,  phlegmatic  in  the  mad 
ness,  yet  alert,  resourceful,  coiled  to  spring  at 
any  momentary  opening. 

So  now.  Hazard  saw  him  a  success,  an  Ameri 
can  success,  a  success  in  that  hard,  tangible  shape 
not  to  be  denied,  a  success  expressed  in  the  terms 
of  dollars  and  the  deference  of  others.  And 
Quarles  deserved  success,  that  his  old  chum  en 
thusiastically  admitted.  Survival  of  the  fittest ! — 
Quarles  was  the  most  fit  of  them  all.  Thrown 
headlong  into  the  swarming  pit  of  American  life, 
he  had  fought  and  kicked  and  choked,  until  now 
he  was  emerging  upon  the  top  of  the  struggling 

108 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

heap,  his  feet  on  others'  necks,  his  hands  reaching 
out  to  grasp  higher  rings  of  action. 

His  hands — Hazard  remembered  that  hand  of 
Quarles's,  how  thick  it  was  and  hard,  tenacious  as 
a  tree-climbing  monkey's,  skillful  as  an  adept 
craftsman's.  He  recalled  how  Quarles  used  his 
hand  in  exposition  of  his  meaning,  not  elegantly, 
but  strikingly,  with  an  open  palm  thrown  out  and 
v  the  strong  thumb  stuck  forth  from  the  fingers. 

All,  to  be  sure,  Quarles  was  a  fellow  with  no 
taint  of  degeneracy  in  him,  no  weakness  for  cul 
tivated  ease,  no  sickening  qualms  of  conscience,  no 
aesthetic,  unappeasable  desires,  but  a  sound  Ameri 
can,  practical,  shrewd,  driven  by  a  dynamic  will, 
balanced  by  no  uncertain  judgment.  To  a  tem 
perament  like  Hazard's  there  was  something  mag 
nificent  about  Quarles. 

The  musician,  having  passed  upon  his  friend, 
concerned  himself  with  the  relationship  between 
the  former  and  the  Farsons. 

What  Quarles  aspired  to  be  was  sufficiently  pro 
claimed  by  his  manner,  but  in  what  light  exactly 
Miss  Parson  looked  upon  him  was  not  so  clear. 
The  musician  divined  more  than  he  actually  ob 
served. 

She   had  doubtless  accepted  much   from  him, 

109 


D.uchess  of  Few  Clothes 

principally  his  time  and  attendance,  mainly  because 
she  was  much  too  indifferent  to  take  the  trouble 
to  hold  off  so  assiduous  a  wooer.  She  had  been 
passive.  To-night  it  was  different. 

Miss  Farson,  at  every  opportunity,  snubbed 
Quarles.  She  made  small  pretense  of  listening,  to 
his  remarks,  much  less  of  responding  to  them.  She 
looked  haughty  and  immoderately  bored,  letting 
her  eyes  wander  listlessly  about  the  dining-room, 
while  Quarles  stubbornly  rallied  his  forces  in  an 
effort  to  gain  her  attention  and  to  fix  her  interest. 
.Chagrin  burned  high  and  higher  in  the  man's 
.cheek. 

Was  the  lady — Hazard  was  forced,  finally,  to 
put  the  question  to  himself — engaged  in  making 
manifest,  for  his  sake,  her  indifference  to  Mr. 
Quarles? 

Whatever,  her  immediate  motive,  her  consistent 
.indifference  the  musician  felt  he  understood.  Mere 
utilitarian  genius  could  not  hope  to  kindle  a  spark 
of  responsive  passion  in  that,  primitively  romantic 
young  woman. 

The  reason  for  the  failure  was  not  far  to  seek. 
Quarles  and  his  devotion  were  too  obvious,  too 
wonted,  too  positive.  His  virtues  were  too  clear 
as  his  success  was  too  patent.  To  the  mistress  of 

no 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

his  heart  he-,  unquestionably  appeared  as  simply 
the  most  excellent  of  .eligible  and  prosaic  suitors, 
differing,  only  from  others  in  that  he  was  more 
able,  more  reliable,  a  greater  getter  of  money. 
What  response  had  Quarles  for  her  vague. dreams, 
her  virginal  discontents/  her  /passionate  idealities^ 
and  her  pseudo-poetic  yearnings?  These,  she 
seemed  to  fancy,  might  better  be  fulfilled  by  a  futile 
fiddler  or  some  like  impecunious  hero. 

The  party  rose  from  dinner.  Miss  Parson 
swept  to  the  elevators,  while  the  two  men  strolled 
into  the  rotunda  to  enjoy  their  cigars.  For  a  half 
hour  they  sat  together  on  a  leather-covered  lounge 
placed  against  the  pedestal  of  one  of  the  Olym 
pians.  Then  Mr.  Farson  crossed  to  the  cigar 
stand  for  his  fifteen-minute  evening  chat  with  his 
favourite.  Quarles  took  advantage  of  the  oppor 
tunity  to  slip  into  an  elevator  and  be  borne  aloft 
for  a  tete-a-tetc  with  the  mistress  of  his  heart. 

As  Quarles  moved  to  the  elevators,  Casey  un 
expectedly  emerged  from  the  adjacent  corridor* 
The  witness  of  their  encounter  was  the  musician  in 
the  gallery.  Quarles,  although  his  eyes  met 
Casey's  fairly,  passed  without  a  bint -of  recogni 
tion.  Casey  started  visibly.  Was  it  fear  or  sim 
ply  hate  that  momentarily  distorted  the  leathern 

in 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

visage  of  the  Irishman?  "  Aha,  the  bull  steps  en 
the  reptile,"  the  musician  observed,  "  and  the  re 
sentful  reptile  some  day  will  fasten  its  fangs  in  the 
bull." 

Hazard,  his  violin  case  in  one  hand,  was  leav 
ing  the  hotel  some  two  hours  later.  He  turned 
the  corner  leading  to  a  side  street  and  came  plump 
upon  Quarles.  Even  then  he  attempted  to  escape 
by  slipping  softly  by.  But  some  attraction  in  his 
old  friend  glued  his  eyes,  and  suddenly  Quarles 
awakened. 

The  hands  of  that  strenuous  gentleman  were 
shoved  into  his  trouser  pockets,  throwing  wide, 
thereby,  the  edges  of  his  long  overcoat  and  dis 
playing  the  full  bosom  of  his  pearl-studded  shirt. 
The  high  hat  upon  his  head  was  pushed  a  trifle 
back  so  that  the  exposure  of  the  worn  temples  in 
creased  the  margin  of  the  brow.  The  hard  lips 
were  pursed  in  some  anger  and  in  more  perplexity, 
while  the  steel-grey  eyes,  until  they  fixed  on  Haz 
ard,  were  keen  and  blind,  as  if  their  sharp  points 
were  engaged  in  picking  at  a  problem  totally  with 
in  the  mind. 

"Ned  Hazard!"  Quarles  exclaimed,  his  face 
lighting  wonderfully.  '  Well,  I'm  damned. 
What  the  devil  are  you  doing  here?  " 

112 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

It  was  the  old  brimstone  warmth  Hazard  used 
to  love.  But  to  try  its  sincerity,  he  announced: 
"  Oh,  I  scrape  a  fiddle  in  the  orchestra.: — I  was  in 
the  gallery  while  you  were  at  dinner." 

Quarles  planted  two  weighty  hands  on  the  mu 
sician's  shoulders,  and  putting  back  his  head,  he 
roared.  "  Excuse  me,  Ned,  it's  so  damned  incon 
gruous."  Then  he  looked  down,  keenly:  "  And  I 
suppose  you'd  have  passed  me  now  without  a 
word,  if  I  hadn't  stubbed  my  toe  on  you,  so  to 
speak." 

"  Well,  yes,"  admitted  Hazard,  a  shade  de 
fiantly.  So  many  once  warm  friends  of  his  had 
cooled  the  last  five  years,  that  he  had  grown  to 
suspect  every  man  of  insincerity  until  the  proba 
bility  had  been  disproved. 

"  You  damned  fool !  "  quoth  Quarles  in  his 
fond  way,  still  holding  Hazard  fast.  "  Since 
you  didn't  reply  to  my  letter  four  years  ago,  I've 
never  heard  from  you  and  I  couldn't  learn,  though 
I've  inquired  of  every  chap  who  ought  to  know." 

Hazard  smiled.  "  Oh,  I've  been  cut  loose 
from  civilization  for  four  years.  I've  been  mix 
ing  it  up,  Val,  you  see."  The  phrase,  which 
would  have  been  impossible  from  the  lips  of  the 
elegant  Hazard  of  some  years  back,  enlightened 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Quarks  much  more  than  long  explanations  could 
have-  done. 

"  So  you've  been  letting  some  of  your  theories 
run  riot,  have  you,  Ned?  "  Quarles  asked.  "  Well, 
I've  got  my  clutches  on  you  now,  and  I  won't  let 
you  go.  Come  along,  I  want  some  supper  and  I 
want  a  talk.  I 'know  a  good  English  chop  house 
down  here  a-ways,  and  I'm  devilish  hungry." 

The  musician 'experienced  much  the  same  sensa 
tion  as  did  the  prodigal  son:  when  welcomed  so 
unexpectedly.  And  as  Quarles  rushed  him  off  his 
feet,  there  occurred  a  recrudescence  of 'his  old  time 
allegiance  and  affection,  accompanied  by  a  pleasant 
sense  of  how  good  it  was  to  be  close  to  a  strong 
and  able  friend  again. 

As  they  walked,  Quarles  from  his  height  half 
growled,  half  laughed:  "  So  you, wouldn't  look 
me  up,  you  damned  idiot,  Ned.  Just  like  you. 
But  I  give  you<  fair  warning  right  now;  you  can't 
palm  off  your  cussed  Brahmin  pride  on  me.  I'm 
your  everlasting  friend,  I  am,  and  I'll  have  you 
out  of  the  fiddling  business  inside  of  a  week*  I 
will." 

"  No,  you  won't,  Val."  asserted  Hazard. 

"  By  Jove,  Ned,  you're  still  as  handsome  and., 
perverse  as  any  woman,  quite  in  the  old  -way,  I  see. 

114. 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

But  I've  got  a  firm  hand  on  your  collar  now,  and 
we'll  see,  my  son. — Here's  where  we  eat;  turn  in." 
Thus  Quarles  disposed.  He  broke  down  bar 
riers,  kicked  through  reserve.  There  was  small 
chance  for  misconstruction  through  excess  of  deli 
cacy  -with  Quarles.  He  might  lack  in  the  finer 
shades  of  refinement,  probably  he  did;  but  that  he 
was  a  fighter  from  the  shoulder  out,  a  stayer  to 
the  finish  and  a  friend  at  a  pinch,  there  could  be 
no  gainsaying. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

"  OPEN    CONFESSION." 

THE  supper  Quarles  ordered  was  solid,  but 
•it~w"as'.''exceUently  cooked,  and  the  old  ale 
to  wash  it  down  was  good. 

Quarles  refilled  the  glasses.  '  Now  tell  me  all 
about  yourself,  since  you  disappeared,  and  before," 
he  directed. 

"  Success,  I  say,  doesn't  seem  to  have  spoiled 
you,  Val,"  remarked  Hazard,  in  diversion.  "  And 
you  are  about  the  only  one  it  hasn't  that  I  know." 

"  But  I  am  a  money-grubber,  Ned,  as  you  used 
to  charge.  And  worse  than  ever  now,  so  spare 
your  praises."  Quarles  smiled. 

"  But  you're  not  quite  a  Philistine,"  retorted 
Hazard.  '  You  never  were,  though  always  a 
pretty,  rank  materialist." 

"Philistine!  What  an  academic  term.  No  one 
but  you  would  venture  it  in  Chicago,"  Quarles 
scoffed  mildly.  "  By  the  bye,  are  you  still  enthu 
siastic,  Ned,  about  bottling  moonshine  to  furnish 
the  masses  a  breakfast  cordial  of  sweetness  and 
light?" 

116 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Hazard  flushed.  "  No,  I've  dropped  a  few 
things.  But,"  he  added,  defiantly,  "  I  still  am  as 
unpractical  as  ever." 

''  You're  still  delightful  then,  and  here's  to 
you."  Quarles  drained  his  glass.  "  You've  had 
a  good  run  for  your  money,  Ned,  confess  up. 
Now  you've  got  to  trot  my  gait  awhile.  You  can't 
fiddle  for  the  Pantheon  with  me  in  sight." 

"Why  not,  I'd  like  to  know?" 

u  Because  I  won't  have  it,  my  son.  That's  flat. 
What  you  need  is  a  manager,  you  always  did. 
Well,  you've  got  one  now,  good  and  plenty." 
Quarles  grinned. 

"  Don't  be  too  sure,  you  damned  old  despot," 
Hazard  sputtered.  "  Of  course,  since  you  left 
college  you've  had  one  vast  riot  of  giving  orders. 
You  can't  order  me." 

'  That's  a  quarrel  about  a  word,"  said  Quarles. 
"  Call  it  moral  suasion,  if  you  like.  WThat  I  mean 
is  that  inside  a  year  I'll  have  you  making  money 
hand  over  fist." 

"  I  defy  you,  Val ;  you  can't  make  a  man  of  me. 
I  won't  have  it." 

"  Oh,  don't  splutter.  I'll  do  it,  sure,"  said 
Quarles,  imperturbably.  "  I  know  how  to  infuse 
iron  into  the  blood." 

117 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"You  go  hang  yourself,"  cried  Hazard,  in  a 
sort  of  humourous  rage.  He  had  raged  in  like 
fashion  at  his  chum's  positiveness  through  four 
years  of  college. — "  I  know  well  enough  what  you 
think, — you  think  I'm  dreaming,  loafing.  I'll  tell 
you  what  I'm  really  doing;  I'm  solving  life." 
Hazard  showed  his  teeth. 

"  Humph,"  exclaimed  Quarles.  "  You  blessed 
infant,  there's  only  one  method  of  doing  that,  and 
that's  to  work." 

"  Well,  you  don't  put  me  to  what  you  call 
work."  Hazard  struck  the  table  with  his  fist. 
Then  he  laughed:  "Tell  me,  Val,  how  many 
have  you  succeeded  in  putting  to  work  the  last 
few  years?  To  put  the  human  race  to  work  used 
to  be  your  master-passion,  as  I  remember." 

A  gleam  crossed  Quarles's  face.  "  It  is  the  best 
thing  you  can  do  for  men.  Two  thousand  work 
under  my  orders.  Next  year  it  may  be  five." 

"  Then  for  mercy's  sake,  let  me  alone,"  Hazard 
pleaded.  He  smiled:  'I  suppose  that  as  one 
economic  sinnerT  inspire  your  zeal  more  than  the 
ninety  and  nine  righteous  you  command." 

Quarles  met*  the  taunt  with  a  grim  statement: 
"  There  are  only  two  classes,  Ned,  as  Socrates  ob 
served  two  thousand  years  ago.  There  are  mas- 

118 


^Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

ters  .and  slaves :  there  always  were ;  there  always 
will  be;  cover  up  the  unpalatable  fact  with  as 
many  names  and  theories  and  sentimentalities  as 
you  please.  The  masters  get  what  is  good  in  life ; 
the  slaves  do  all  the  dirty  work."  He  added  kind 
ly:  "  Now,  I  want  to  see  you  master  and  others 
slaves." 

"You  brute!  "  said  Hazard. 

"  The  truth,"  said  Quarles.  "  And  what's 
more,  though  you  hate  it,  you  know  it  to  be  the 
truth.  You're  not  a  fool,  Ned,  however  much, 
maybe,  you'd  like  to  be  it." 

Hazard  flamed, — he  usually  was  flaming  when 
in  contact  with  his  cool  friend.  "  Granted.  Even 
so,  I  could  not  be  induced  to  become  a  master.  I 
prefer  to  be  Quixotic,  even  to  be  a  slave." 

'  That  sounds  fine,  Ned,  and  it  is."  Quarles 
expressed  the  truth  drily,  yet  without  any  scorn. 
"But  understand  this,  too:  your  slaves  aren't 
worth  being  martyrs  for.  If  wholesale  martyrdom 
of  noble  men  and  women  could  have  done  it  for 
them,  they'd  have  been  saved  centuries  ago.  You 
are  aware  of  all  this,  you  carry  a. sane  head  on 
your  shoulders;  you  are  not  a  blind  enthusiast,  a 
.fanatic  run  amuck." 

119 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Perhaps  not;  but  I  pity  them,"  Hazard  softly 
said. 

"  Humph,  I  do  myself — sometimes,"  the  hard 
man  confessed.  "And  much  good  my  pity  does! 
No  man  can  help  another  in  this  world;  a  man 
must  help  himself  or  perish.  That  is  the  law;  it 
is  why  millions  perish.  So  sentimentalizing  does 
no  good  and  only  makes  a  mush  of  you." 

Hazard  had  no  answer.  And  if  he  had,  what 
was  the  use  of  contending,  not  against  an  argu 
ment,  but  a  temperament? 

Quarles  demanded  presently:  "Now  tell  me 
all  about  yourself,  Ned.  That's  what  I  want  to 
know." 

"  It's  easily  summed  up,"  responded  Hazard. 
"  You  know  my  father  died  and  the  mills  failed. 
It  was  my  opportunity  to  see  life  on  the  level,  and 
I  was  tired  of  viewing  it  from  the  heights.  I 
seized  the  chance  and  since  then  I  have  been  taking 
things  as  they  come.  Upon  the  whole,  I  like  the 
new  way  just  as  well." 

"  But  that's  not  the  whole  story,"  excepted 
Quarles.  '  You  are  frivolous  on  the  surface,  but 
you're  a  Puritan  at  heart.  Tell  me,  why  did  you 
cut  loose,  burn  your  ships,  and  disappear  into  the 
vortex  of  America?  You  had  friends,  surely; 

1 20 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

your  family  is  old;  you  might  have  had  the  chance 
to  rehabilitate  your  fortunes,  had  you  wished." 

''  It  was  offered  me,  the  mills  were  offered  me, 
and  they  tried  to  show  me  that  good  management 
could  make  them  pay."  Hazard  was  just  a  bit 
disdainful. 

"  You  would  have  been  again  a  rich  man,  as 
your  father  was,  as  your  grandfather  and  his 
father  were  before  him.  I  don't  understand."  A 
reverential  note  appeared  in  Quarles's  voice  as  he 
spoke  of  Hazard's  family. 

"  I  hardly  expect  you  to  understand,"  rejoined 
Hazard,  heatedly.  "  Your  conception  of  duty 
first  of  all  is  to  get  money.  Mine  isn't." 

"  There,  there,  Ned."  Quarles  stretched  an 
arm  to  pat  his  friend's  hand  soothingly.  "  I'm 
not  all  intolerant.  Besides,  my  creed  relaxes  when 
it  comes  to  you.  You  have  some  excuse  for  your 
willfulness,  because  you  are  exceptional.  It's  only 
that  I  don't  want  you  to  ruin  yourself,  my  son." 

"  That's  it,"  snapped  Hazard,  "  it's  always  the 
finish  one  makes,  not  one's  effort  to  run,  that  you 
judge  by.  You  understand  dollars,  and  no  more, 
you  do." 

Quarles  smiled  indulgently.  "  Come,  Ned,  let 
121 


me  know  just  exactly  what  I  do  not  understand 
about  you." 

Hazard  hesitated,  studying-  Quarles  a  moment, 
then  evidently  concluded  to  risk  speaking  out.  "  It 
will  only  seem  absurd  to- you.  But  Icouldn't  take 
over  those  mills:  the  notion  was  a  horror  to  me; 
When  my  mother  died  and  I  came  back  from 
Europe,  I  learned  what  my  father  was,  for  the 
first  time,  and  I  honoured  and  pitied  him;  He 
was  like  the  boulder  that  dams -a  torrent.  He  had 
stuck  in  the  breach  for  years,  held  between  us  and 
reality.  And  the  reward  he  got  for  furnishing 
my  mother  with' thousands,  and  for  creating  for 
her  a  sort  of -delicate  enchanted  existence  in  which 
to  develop  her  exquisite  asstheticism  and  her  tran- 
scendant  spirituality,  was  misunderstanding-  and 
an 'ill-concealed  aversion.-  My  mother  and  I, — 
we  looked  on  my  father  as  a  specimen  of  the  able 
brute,  as  a  coarse,  kindly. giant,  who  >was  a  master, 
of  facts  and  realities,  but  whose  soul  had  shrunk 
and  whose' culture  had  deteriorated.  Understand, 
Val,  I  talk  to  you  as  to  no  one  else  in  the  world." 

"  I  understand,"  Quarles  answered  gently. 
"  Perhaps  I  understand  even  more  than  you  think 
I  can,"  he  added,  with  a  touch  of  wistfulness.  "  I 

122 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

remember  your  father  and  I  used  to  get  on  very 
well  together." 

"  Oh,  he  approved  of. you,"  Hazard  interjected. 

"  But, your  mother,  Ned, — I  never  can  forget 
her,  to  my  dying  day.  I  was  not  her  sort,  you 
know,  and  she  never  favoured  me  with  more  than 
a  glance  or  two.  She  looked  a  beautiful  spirit, — 
ethereal,  and  that  kind  of  thing, .you  know,  Ned. 
She  \vas  two  opposites,  was  she  not, — a  woman  of 
the  world  and  a -saint?" 

"  Yes,  yes,"  said  Hazard,  .glowingly,  "  she  was 
what  you  say.  But,"  his  tone  altered,  "  she,  no 
more  than  the  rest  of  us  could  escape  the  defects 
of  her  virtues. — Let  me  tell  you  the  rest,  Val.  For 
years  the  mills  had  been  growing  less  profitable, 
though  the  plant  had  been  doubled  and  tripled. 
Competition  cut  into  the  margin,  until,  to  render 
a  bare  profit,  the  output  had  to'  be  enormous,  and 
the  interest  return  upon  the  capital  invested  became 
hardly  respectable.  My  mother  spent"  enormously 
for  art  and  chanty  and  for  the  luxury  which  was 
her  need.  And  my  father,  who  worshipped  her  in 
a  blind  fashion,  never  thought  of  curtailing  what 
she  had  been  .used  to  all  her  life.  How  he  per 
formed  the  feat  of  keeping  us  supplied  during  the 
last  decade  remains  a  miracle  to  me  still,  and  at 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

her  death,  he  let  go, — the  deluge  broke.  Yet  I 
suppose,  had  I  had  the  right  stuff  in  me,  the  mills 
could  have  been  saved  to  the  Hazard  name." 

"  A  fine  name,  Ned,  an  old  name,  none  better 
in  New  England,  few  higher  in  America,"  mused 
Quarles,  sorrowfully.  "  Had  you  no  duty  to  the 
name,  to  the  traditions?  Were  you  not  bound  to 
consult  them  as  well  as  your  own  inclinations  or 
repulsions?  " 

The  suggestion  was  so  gently  and  gravely  put 
that  Hazard  guiltily  wondered  if  his  degeneracy 
was  to  be  inferred  because  he  remained  unaffected. 
But  suddenly  he  remembered  what  his  motive  or 
his  excuse  had  been.  With  a  smile  he  mentioned 
it:  "  There  was  conscience, — I  consulted  my  con 
science." 

"  In  some  ways,"  commented  Quarles,  "  as  ob 
solete  and  useless  a  piece  of  furniture  as  a  spinning 
wheel. — Some  think  it  ornamental,  as  some  do  a 
wheel." 

"  Nevertheless,"  laughed  Hazard,  "  to  possess 
the  New  England  conscience  is  a  fearful  thing." 

"  Look  what  it's  brought  you  to,"  agreed 
Quarles. 

"  To  a  fiddle." 

124 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  And  you  born  a  gentleman,  if  ever  a  fellow 
was." 

"  A  gentleman,  my  dear  Val,  in  this  maelstrom 
of  America,  is  quite  as  much  out  of  date  as  is  a 
conscience.  Come,  confess." 

"  We  both,  Ned,  are  blackguarding  ourselves 
a  bit.  Let's  be  serious." 

"  To  return  to  the  mills  then,  Val.  You  see, 
I  couldn't  do  it.  I  had  seen  labour  ground  to 
pulp  and  a  strike  of  the  pitiful  wretches  crushed. 
I  knew  of  girls  forced  into  vice  and  young  fellows 
whose  health  was  sacrificed  to  their  machines. 
Those  gaunt  faces  haunted  me  at  night,  those 
work-worn  women  and  consumptive  men.  And  I 
swore  that  I,  at  least,  would  never  serve  as  instru 
ment  to  put  the  screws  on  miserable  human  beings, 
not  if  the  refusal  cost  me  my  place  in  the  world." 

"  Well,  it  has  cost  you  that,"  Quarles  rumbled. 
"  You're  nothing  but  a  damned  fiddler,  and  do 
you  think  it  has  helped  them  any,  or  you  any,  or 
the  world  any?  Aren't  they  now  being  ground  by 
somebody  in  your  place,  somebody,  probably,  who 
isn't  so  compassionate  as  you'd  have  been, — though 
that  wouldn't  have  helped  them  much,  either?  " 

"  But,  at  least,  I'm  not  responsible,"  said  Haz 
ard,  thankfully. 

125 


"  That's  where  you  are  a  shirk,"  Quarles  blurted 
out,  u  and  that's  what  your  father,  whom  you  con 
demned,  never  was.  He  stuck  to  the  throttle 
through  storm  and  stress." 

"  He  was  a  hero,"  Hazard  testified,  "  which  his 
son  is  not." 

"  You  should  have  stuck  for  his  sake,  if  not  for 
your  own,"  continued  Quarles,  mercilessly.  '  You 
might  have  kept  the  mills  and  done  at  least  what 
little  you  could  for  the  hands." 

"  Oh,"  protested  Hazard,  "  I  am  not  bronze. 
I  am  like  Pontius  Pilate;  I  prefer  to  wash  my 
hands.  The  whole  business  of  life  is  too  hideous 
for  me."'  He  shuddered. 

"  Humph ! ""  exclaimed  Quarles.  "  Then  T 
should  think  you'd  talk  about  your  lackadaisical 
nerves  instead  of  your  tender  conscience." 

Hazard  winced.  "  Call  it  what  you  please,  it 
comes  to  the  same  thing."  He  added:  "  I  refuse 
to  be  a  modern  captain  of  industry,  that's  the  long 
and  short  of  it.  Allow  me  to  fiddle  modestly  for 
my  bread  and  cheese  and  I'll  be  content." 

Quarles  regarded  his  whimsical  friend  with  an 
air  half  of  disapproval  and  half  of  protection. 
"By, Jove,  almost  you  persuade  me  there  is  no 
slander  in  the  phrase,  '  the  effete  East,'  my  son." 

126 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

QUARLES  STOPS  TO  THINK. 

TALL  office  building  rises  on  the  •  Lake 
Front  not  far  from  The  Pantheon -Hotel. 
The  topmost  floors  are  divided  into  bachelor 
apartments,  one  of  which  Valentine  Quarles  occu 
pied.  Commonly,  he  referred  to  it  as  "  the  attic." 

The  night  which  reunited  him  to  his  old  chum, 
witnessed  his  return  to  his  apartment  between  one 
and  two  o'clock.  Instead,  however,  of  tumbling 
into  bed  to  get  what  sleep  he  could,; -he  proceeded 
to  draw  up  a  chair  in  the  embrasure  of  a  window, 
to  stack  his  feet  upon  the  sill,  and  to  ruminate. 

Beneath  him,  spread  out  to  view,  under  the  sil 
very  illumination  of  a  cloudless  night,  extended  the 
Lake' Front : and  the  harbour  of' Chicago.  It-was 
the  sort  of  prospect  that  appealed  to- him. 

There  glistened  sombrely  :the  vast,  steel  sheet 
of  the  lake,  and  jutted  into  it  the.  artificial -head 
lands  of  the.  river,  the  stubs:;of  piers -and 'wharves, 
the  crests  of  breakwaters,)  ithe  whole  articulated  by 
the  cunning  hand  of  man, :as  Quarles  loved  to'  con 
sider.  .There-  stretched,  the-  web  of  railway  tratk, 

127 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

intricate,  miles  long.  There  sprang  the  tall  grain 
elevators  and  squatted  the  low,  wide  warehouses. 
There,  over  rails  and  roofs,  puffing  engines  and 
stored  cars,  ran  the  long  viaduct  that  carried 
the  traffic  of  the  street  to  the  water's  edge.  The 
picture  of  such  complicate  and  enormous  industry 
thrilled  Quarles,  as  a  tender  landscape  thrills  a 
poet. 

He  gazed  down,  thinking,  indeed,  how  emptied 
of  activity,  how  stark  in  its  desertion  at  this  early 
hour  it  appeared,  and  how,  as  the  winter  sun  rose 
from  the  lake,  while  he  was  sleeping,  the  machinery 
would  all  begin  again,  the  business  and  the  hum, 
the  transportation,  storage,  distribution.  To  his 
mind  the  harbour  of  Chicago  presented  one  of  the 
sublime  sights  of  the  world. 

This  unusual  night,  however,  the  wondrous 
scene  failed  to  fascinate  him  for  long.  The  real 
interest  lay  within  his  mind.  He  had  been 
stopped,  and  stopped  effectually,  for  the  first  time 
in  his  career.  Was  he  dazed  just  a  bit,  as  from  an 
unexpected  blow  between  the  eyes?  He  sat  there 
in  the  starlight  to  discover,  to  indulge  in  what  was 
unnatural  to  him, — introspection. 

The  facts  were  these :  He  had  been  absent  from 
Chicago  for  six  months,  two  of  which  he  had  spent 

128 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

in  London  and  Germany,  the  other  four  in  New 
York.  In  that  time  he  had  succeeded  in  forming 
a  "  trust  "  which  had  been  considered  an  impos 
sibility  by  some  of  the  most  audaciously  able  pro 
moters  in  Wall  Street.  Yet  the  thing  had  been 
done  and  the  new  issue  of  stock  absorbed  by  the 
market.  Consequently  that  morning  the  news 
papers  of  Chicago  had  hailed  his  return  as  that 
of  a  financial  conqueror. 

Quarles  had  come  back  determined  to  marry 
Miss  Farson.  Had  he  not,  before  he  left  Chicago, 
succeeded  in  discouraging  serious  rivals  and  in  se 
curing  recognition  as  a  half  accepted  suitor?  Con 
sequently  he  felt  himself  justified  in  demanding,  as 
the  reward  of  his  devotion  and  to  crown  his  signal 
victory  in  New  York,  her  definite  promise. 

He  believed  he  loved  Miss  Farson  and  perhaps 
he  did:  which  fact,  however,  in  no  wise  pre 
vented  him  from  realizing  how  much  added 
strength  would  accrue  to  him  when  the  millions  of 
old  Alonzo  A.  should  constitute  a  solid  reserve 
for  his  game  of  dare  and  bluff.  Those  millions, 
which,  inherited  by  his  prospective  father-in-law, 
had  been  simply  hoarded,  except  in  the  lucky  in 
stance  of  the  Pantheon,  Quarles  would  use 
aggressively  to  gain  millions  more.  Although 

129 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

scarcely  three  and  thirty,  he  had  made  himself 
once  or  twice  a  millionaire:  with  the  Farson  for 
tune  to  manipulate,  he  counted  upon  becoming,  be 
fore  he  was  forty,  one  of  the  half  dozen  powers 
of  the  United  States,  Nor  did  Quarles  over-esti 
mate  his  resources. 

And  that  night,  at  sight  of  her,  despite  the 
initial  coolness  of  her  greeting,  his  pride  had  blazed 
like  exultant  flame.  What  a  wife  for  a  successful 
man !  Her  royal  beauty,  her  stately  figure,  and 
the  splendid,  haughty  manner, — they  would  grace 
whatever  millions  any  man  could  offer! 

However,  she  quickly  brought  him  to  earth. 
Cool  greeting  was  emphasized  by  obvious  dis 
favour,  until  at  the  dinner  table  her  conduct  indi 
cated  positive  repugnance. 

Later,  when  he  found  her  in  the  reception  room 
of  the  Farson  suite,  he  fancied  her  disposed  to  be 
more  kind.  Certainly  she  was  friendly,  even  sin 
cere.  She  at  least  listened  to  the  recital  of  his  ex 
periences  in  London  and  New  York,  of  his  encoun 
ters  with  the  kings  of  Wall  Street,  of  his  success 
and  of  the  money  he  had  won.  He  told  of  the 
personal  congratulations  tendered  him  by  the  most 
astute  and  daring  master  of  finance. 

The  story  could  scarcely  fail  to  arouse  interest; 

130 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

yet,  while  she  manifested  it,  she  effectually  con 
trived  to  demonstrate  to  him  that  her  interest  was 
objective,  and  in  no  wise  that  of  the  sharing  part 
ner.  At  once  he  concluded  that  it  would  not  do 
to  remind  her,  as  he  had  intended,  of  her  promise 
of  six  months  ago,  when,  at  the  moment  of  part 
ing,  she  had  said,  her  hand  in  his:  "We  will 
celebrate  when  you  succeed.  Come  back  and  we 
will  celebrate." 

She  offered  cool  felicitations.  "  I  congratulate 
you,  Val;  I  am  so  very  glad  for  your  sake.  It  is 
exactly  what  best  pleases  you,  I'm  sure,  and  we 
should  be  delighted  to  see  our  friends  receive  the 
precise  thing  they  want,  should  we  not?  " 

He  mentioned  what  he  had  reserved  to  please 
her  most  of  all,  feeling,  however,  that  to  please 
her  in  the  least  was  now  quite  impossible.  "  I 
severed  my  last  connection  with  the  Stockyards  a 
week  ago — did  I  tell  you?  I  am  not  to  be  re 
proached  any  more  for  being  in  trade,  if  that  is 
what  you  call  it."  He  smiled. 

"  They  are  a  little  odious,  naturally."  She  gave 
a  delicate  little  sniff.  "  You  are  to  be  congratu 
lated  on  your  good  taste,  I  think." 

"  I  knew  how  you  felt,"  said  he,  pointedly,  "  and 
I  conformed  to  your  wishes  at  the  first  opportunity. 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

If  you  are  pleased,  then  I  am,  although,"  he 
paused  to  add  regretfully,  "  the  Yards  do  offer 
good  business  chances." 

The  characteristic  regret,  so  appended,  did  not 
help  commend  a  statement  that  in  her  present 
mood  must  be  displeasing  to  Miss  Parson.  She 
straightened  her  figure  and  drew  in  her  chin. 
"  Pardon  me,  Mr.  Quarles,  but  I  should  feel  ex 
cessively  reluctant  to  believe  that  any  foolish 
prejudices  of  mine  could  occasion  changes  in  your 
serious  interests  or  projects." 

He  looked  up  instantly.  To  the  justifiable  in 
dignation  of  his  eyes  she  turned  immediately  a  cool 
profile. 

'  You  knew  very  well  " — a  firmness  in  his  voice 
he  had  never  used  to  her — "  you  know  very  well 
how  much  your  wishes,  even  your  caprices,  have 
counted  with  me." 

"  Indeed,"  she  interrupted,  "  I  have  not  been 
aware, — " 

"  Allow  me,"  he  commanded.  "  You  have  long 
known  what  is  the  truth.  Dg  you  wish  to  deny  it 
at  this  late  day?  Whom  do  I  work  for,  with 
what  hope,  do  you  suppose  ?  Why  do  I  come  back 
here  at  once  after  succeeding  in  my  enterprise? 
For  what  do  I  want  great  sums  of  money,  if  you 

132 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

please?  You  know  all  the  reasons,  the  sole  rea 
son."  His  voice  broke.  "  You  know  it  is  because 
I  want  to  make  myself  worthy  of  you,  in  your 
eyes — " 

She  rose  halfway  in  her  chair.  "  Please  go  no 
further,"  she  enjoined,  "  please  say  no  more." 

Her  priggish  attitude,  her  virtual  plea  of  non- 
complicity,  her  request  of  him  to  suppress  himself 
in  order  to  permit  to  her  a  comfortable  evasion, 
angered  Quarles.  "  Say  no  more !  "  he  echoed. 
"  What  do  you  suppose  I  am?  After  all  this  time, 
the  way  I've  worked,  the  way  I've  consulted  your 
every  whim,  I  am  to  say  no  more?  I  tell  you, 
Genevra,  it's  preposterous." 

She  put  out  a  hand  despairingly,  as  in  a  vain 
attempt  to  quell  some  force  she  so  much  respected 
as  perhaps  to  fear.  "  But  I  do  not  love  you,  Val, 
I  can't.  I  never  will,"  she  whimpered.  "  I  wish 
I  did,  I'm  sure." 

He  answered  not  a  word  and  she  was  afraid  to 
look  at  him.  But  her  uncomfortableness  became 
intolerable, — she  was  not  disciplined  to  endure  un 
pleasantness  put  upon  her  from  without.  "  Is  not 
that  sufficient?  "  she  asked  irritably. 

Quarles  breathed  strongly.  "  It's  a  late  day, 
Genevra,  for  you  to  find  it  out.  But  if  it's  so,  it's 

133 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

so,  and  what  good  are  reproaches."  He  stared  at 
the  floor. 

She  refused  to  blame  herself.  "  I  am  a 
woman,"  she  pleaded  in  extenuation,  "  and  we 
women, — you  must  know  what  unstable  creatures 
we  women  are." 

He  pondered  this,  or  some  consideration,  for 
a  while.  When  he  spoke,  it  was  quite  tenderly: 
"  That's  it,  you  are  a  woman,  Genevra.  And  a 
woman  needs  devotion,  needs  protection,  needs  a 
loyalty  that  will  not  fail  her  for  a  life-time.  I've 
always  felt  you  did  not  care  as  I  do,  but  I  can't 
see  that  it  is  necessary  you  should.  All  I  ask  is 
the  right  to  take  care  of  you,  Genevra,  and  to 
try  to  make  you  happy.  I  do  not  ask  you  to  be 
certain  that  you  love  me  now, — I  ask  you  simply 
to  marry  me.  Out  of  justice,  marry  me." 

She  cowered  under  her  own  sense  of  guilt  and  an 
apprehension,  if  not  a  fear,  of  him.  But  repulsion, 
too,  strengthened  in  her.  "No,  no,  no!"  shudder 
ing,  she  cried,  more  to  herself  than  to  him,  "  I 
won't,  I  won't !  I  will  not  be  coerced !  You  are 
too  overpowering,  too  strong." 

She  added  presently:     "  Please  go." 

He  stood  up,  but  he  did  not  turn.     Almost 

134 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

stolidly  he  said:  "  Then  I  am  your  fate,  Genevra, 
and  you  might  as  well  give  in  soon  as  later." 

She  sprang  erect  upon  her  feet,  two  disks  burn 
ing  vividly  in  her  cheeks.  "  I'll  not  be  bullied, 
Mr.  Quarles,"  she  hurled,  "  let  me  tell  you  that. 
I  am  the  mistress  of  my  future.  I  do  not  love  you, 
as,  thank  God,  I've  found  out  in  time.  And  I  will 
not  marry  you.  That's  final,  Mr.  Quarles." 

He  looked  deep  into  her  dark  eyes,  which  she 
valiantly  held  up  to  his  scrutiny.  What  he  read 
therein  shook  him  for  a  moment.  He  bowed  and 
left  the  room. 

What  women  felt,  what  men  determined,  mat 
tered  little  to  Valentine  Quarles,  when  his  will  was 
set.  In  the  expressive  American  vernacular,  "  he 
usually  got  what  he  went  after."  Speech  meant 
hardly  anything  to  him ;  he  disregarded  what  peo 
ple  said  to  interpret  them  by  what  they  did.  Miss 
Parson  might  say  what  she  chose;  if  she  could  be 
forced,  persuaded,  or  wearied  into  giving  him  her 
hand,  he  would  be  contented.  The  fact  that  a 
woman  had  given  herself  to  a  man  would  consti 
tute  to  his  exact  mind  incontrovertible  evidence 
that  the  thing  was  precisely  what  at  heart  she 
wanted  to  do. 

But  if  Quarles  lacked  subtlety,  he  did  not  want 

135 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

for  perception.  He  often  had  been  baffled  by  his 
lady-love;  this  time  he  suspected  that  he  might 
be  beaten. 

Concluding  that  with  his  present  knowledge  it 
was  useless  longer  to  speculate  upon  this  point, 
Quarles  left  his  chair  overlooking  the  Lake  Front 
and  turned  on  the  light.  His  brain  was  remark 
ably  clear  and  he  decided  to  put  in  some  time  at 
work. 

He  seated  himself  before  a  flat-topped  desk  piled 
with  papers  arranged  in  neat  packages.  Soon  he 
was  engrossed  in  difficult  calculations. 

He  forgot  himself  and  worked  far  into  the 
night.  His  face  was  cold  as  stone,  his  brow  as 
abstruse  as  a  mathematician's.  He  might  have 
been  some  general  in  his  tent,  planning  the  evolu 
tions  of  his  squadrons  for  the  morrow's  battle. 
What,  at  bottom,  did  love  mean  to  such  a  man  ? 

When  finally  he  did  get  into  bed,  he  immediately 
composed  himself  for  that  deep  sleep  which  usually 
his  will  could  summon.  But  he  bestowed  a  last 
thought  upon  the  friend,  whom,  to  his  delight, 
he  had  accidentally  recovered.  "  Dear  old  Ned," 
he  smiled,  "  erratic  as  a  woman  and  as  winning, 
too.  It's  good  to  have  him  where  I  can  keep  an 
eye  out  for  him." 

136 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Abruptly  he  sat  upright  in  the  dark,  staring  as 
if  he  could  see.     "  God,  that's  it!    She's  seen  Ned 
and  she's  in  love.     They  all  are,  bless  my  soul!  " 
•     He  lay  down  again.     "  I'll  think  of  it  to-mor 
row.     Here  goes  for  sleep." 


137 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

WHAT  SUFFICES  TO  PROVOKE  THE  FAVOUR  OF 
THE  WORLD. 

SO  I  hear  you've  been  engaged  to  give  the 
stunning  Miss  Parson  music  lessons,"  re 
marked  the  Duchess,  with  a  pleased,  con 
gratulatory  air.  u  Didn't  I  tell  you  you'd  finish 
as  a  swell,  that  you  couldn't  help  yourself,  a 
Prince  Beautiful  like  you?  "  Her  gleaming  smile 
played  over  him. 

"Where  did  you  hear  it?"  Hazard  asked. 

;(  Why,  it's  all  over  the  hotel.  You're  to  be 
congratulated  for  a  mighty  lucky  man."  She 
seemed  as  "  pleased  as  Punch  "  for  him. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know,"  he  drawled,  in  a  slang 
phrase  of  the  day. 

"  Well,  I  do,"  she  asserted.  "  Lots  of  awful 
swells  would  give  their  eye-teeth  to  get  half  your 
chance.  Why,  I'm  a  girl,  but  I'm  half  in  love  with 
her  myself.  She's  glorious, — excuse  my  adjectives. 
Have  you  seen  her  move, — sweep  across  the  floor? 
I  think  of  her  as  of  some  princess.  And  as  rich 
.as  she  is  beautiful,  just  think  of  that!  How  much 

138 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

more  do  you  want,  anyway,  you  good-for-nothing 
boy?" 

"  Only  a  slight  quintessence  of  soul,  a  modicum 
of  spiritual  development, — just  that,"  answered 
the  musician  with  flippant  style  and  serious  im 
plication.  A  new  idea  occurred  to  him :  "Speak 
ing  of  soul,  I  suppose  you'd  risk  yours  to  stand  in 
her  shoes,  be  her?  '' 

"  Yes,"  she  glowed,  "  for  an  hour,  say — to  see 
how  it  would  feel  to  be  beautiful  and  rich  all  at  the 
same  time ;  to  know  that  whatever  your  heart  ached 
for,  you  could  have."  She  paused.  "  Think  of 
it,"  she  resumed  wistfully.  "  Life  to  her, — how 
lovely  it  must  seem  with  precious,  golden  hours 
stretching  far  ahead,  in  which  to  improve  herself, 
to  think  beautiful  thoughts  and  make  herself  a 
poem.  And  never,  never  to  be  forced  to  know  what 
is  low  and  mean.  Heigho,  wouldn't  I  just  like  to 
be  Miss  Farson  for  a  minute !  " 

'To  improve  oneself!"  His  fastidious  mind 
picked  up  the  phrase.  How,  in  his  aristocratic 
days  of  eclectic  culture,  he  had  jeered  at  the  mid 
dle-class,  Philistine  aspiration,  breathed  from  every 
pushful  rank  of  sentimental  democracy  over  vast 
America!  Now,  on  the  lips  of  this  cigar-girl,  he 
could  not  only  tolerate  the  crudity  of  development 

139 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

that  the  phrase  represented,  but  could  be  touched 
with  the  pathos  of  the  condition  that  it  voiced.  For 
Hazard  had  become  acquainted  through  experi 
ence  with  the  predicament  of  awakening  and  denial 
which  is  that  of  so  many  in  America. 

Perhaps  this  very  realization  of  the  hopeless 
ness  of  such  aspiration  urged  him  to  admonish  her. 
Or  it  may  have  been  simply  his  New  England  in 
stinct  for  repression,  the  racial  conviction  that  en 
durance  rather  than  expansive  joy  is  better  for  the 
moral  development  of  one's  neighbours.  At  any 
rate:  ''Rich  people  seldom  have  the  habit  of 
making  the  best  of  their  advantages.  And  you 
might  follow  their  example, — take  your  ease,  be 
mildly  amused,  and  never  strain  your  faculties  to 
the  compass  of  the  realities.  What  you  consider 
your  ill  fortune  may  be  your  good  angel  in  dis 
guise.  Work,  endurance,  suffering  is  what  brings 
men  and  women  to  their  highest." 

"  Maybe,  maybe,"  the  Duchess  murmured,  but 
not  as  if  overmuch  consoled  by  the  preachment. 
'And  presently  she  ventured  meek  dissent:  "  But 
rich  people,  like  Miss  Farson,  seem  to  be  the  only 
ones  who  get  a  chance.  They  don't  have  to  be 
soiled  or  get  smirched  with  the  evil  they  never  did. 
Besides," — her  eyes  shone, — "  to  become  beauti- 

140 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

ful,  to  make  herself  attractive,  to  cultivate  her 
mind  and  heart  and  soul, — is  not  that  what  a 
woman's  for;  is  she  not  wasted,  if  she  fails  to  make 
herself  lovely,  all  she  can?  " 

"  But  moral  beauty,  did  you  never  think  of 
moral  beauty?"  Hazard  urged.  But  tears  were 
moistening  his  eyes,  tears  he  would  not  let  her  see. 
"  Moral  beauty,"  he  droned  on,  "  is  possible  to 
everyone,  is  not  dependent  on  advantages.  And 
moral  beauty  is  to  other  beauties  as  is  beauty  it 
self  to  ugliness."  She  might  fancy  the  Platonic 
phraseology  better  than  she  did  the  Puritan,  he 
surmised. 

"  Perhaps,"  she  perfunctorily  admitted,  her  face 
dulled  and  sad.  "  But  I  don't  believe  it, — not  at 
all."  Revulsion  rose  suddenly  to  passionate 
heights  in  her.  "  I'll  not  believe  it,  I  refuse  to," 
she  cried  out.  "  So  much  I've  seen  choked  to 
death  that  might  have  been  beautiful, — choked 
cruelly,  I  call  it.  Most  everyone  means  well  in 
this  world;  most  everyone  would  amount  to  some 
thing,  if  they  were  put  out  in  the  sun.  Mistakes, 
— why  are  we  made  so  ignorant  we  can't  help  mak 
ing  mistakes?  That's  what  I  would  like  to  know 
before  I'll  give  in  and  say  I'm  getting  all  I  ought 
to." 

141 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  How  about  Loye  and  his  kind?  "  asked  Haz 
ard.  "Are  they  being  wronged,  too?"  He  felt 
it  was  about  time  to  grin. 

The  Duchess  smiled  also.  "  I  guess  when  we 
get  that  far  we'll  quit  talking,"  she  said. 

The  news  which  had  come  to  the  ear  of  the 
Duchess,  seeped  down  through  the  human  layers 
of  the  Pantheon.  Bell-boys,  clerks,  the  manager, 
Colonel  Patten,  the  permanent  guests, — all  sud 
denly  awakened  to  a  lively  realization  of  the  vio 
linist's  existence.  Overnight  the  "  damned  fiddler  " 
had  become  a  personage.  Other  personages  who 
had  never  seen  him,  rising  men  who  had  contempt 
uously  suspected  he  was  falling,  menials  who  had 
been  on  the  watch  to  offer  him  small  insults,  one 
and  all,  high  and  low,  gentleman  and  vulgarian, 
waited  patiently  to  catch  his  eye,  or  even  openly 
solicited  with  humble  glances  the  condescension  of 
his  recognition.  Mankind  is  nearly  shameless, — 
an  eternal  truth  which  those  who  deal  in  things 
or  in  ideas  seldom  apprehend,  but  which  the  cor- 
ruptionists  of  all  kinds  successfully  apply. 

Colonel  Patten  with  his  stick  lightly  switched 
the  legs  of  the  musician.  "  Hold  on,  young  man, 
there  is  no  hurry.  That  tinpan  orchestra  can  bleat 
for  a  minute  without  your  help,  I  guess.  Besides 

142 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

no  one's  in  the  dining-room,  as  yet."  The  old 
observer  gently  winked  an  eye  and  dug  a  knowing 
thumb  at  the  youthful  lady-killer. 

Hazard  smiled.  Both  the  haberdasher's  style 
of  raiment  and  of  talk  he  found  a  joy. 

Colonel  Patten  twirled  his  mustache,  stiffened 
his  figure  to  a  military  stand,  and  observed:  "  I 
picked  you  out  for  a  winner  the  first  time  I  saw  you, 
Mr.  Hazard.  I  can  spot  a  thorough-bred  in  a 
forty-acre  pasture  lot.  I  said  to  myself  that  young 
man's  no  sorrel  colt;  he  was  blue-grass  bred,  or 
I'm  not  a  connoisseur."  The  Colonel  managed  the 
concluding  word  with  pride. 

"  Bully  for  you,  Colonel  Patten,  you  know  the 
real  thing  when  you  see  it,"  Hazard  laughed. 

The  vain  old  pantaloon  plumed  himself.  "  I  get 
on,  I  do  get  on  mighty  quick,  Mr.  Hazard.  I 
never  was  a  dub.  It's  awful  little  that  gets  past 
my  eagle  eye.  And  I'm  glad,  I'm  mighty  glad  you 
won't  be  ploughing  in  the  furrow  for  long  now.  It 
always  did  give  me  conniptions  to  see  a  thorough 
bred  put  to  hauling  fertilizer,  while  some  stump- 
tailed  ratter's  pretending  to  break  the  record 
'round  the  track." 

"  Lots  of  square  pegs  in  round  holes,  aren't 
there,  Colonel?" 

H3 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

'  Just  my  own  case  to  a  T,  young  man,"  the 
Colonel  parenthetically  remarked.  "  As  for  you, 
Mr.  Hazard,  you've  got  two  things  that  don't  al 
ways  go  together, — you've  got  some  sense  to  salt 
down  your  good  looks.  So  I'm  safe  in  prophesy 
ing,  sir,  that  you'll  get  your  deserts.  Things  will 
be  coming  your  way  pretty  quick,  young  man." 

Colonel  Patten  tapped  Hazard  on  the  shoulder 
with  his  stick,  and,  abruptly  turning  on  his  heel, 
made  off.  The  Colonel  detested  bores  himself 
and  was  resolved  never  to  be  one  on  his  own  ac 
count.  A  bore  he  defined  as  a  fool  who  didn't 
know  when  to  quit. 

The  news  also  reached  Truesdale  Blish.  If 
others  were  affected,  the  clerk  was  electrified.  He 
quite  lost  the  government  of  his  head,  that  member 
shaking  like  an  old  woman's  in  Hazard's  presence. 

Formerly  the  elegant  gentleman  had  talked  down 
to  the  musician,  as  if  enlightening  the  latter  con 
cerning  society  and  the  people  in  it.  Now  he 
marked  Hazard's  gain  in  rank  by  propounding  the 
grave  questions  which  perplexed  his  mind. 

One  night  he  said:  "  You  must  wonder  some 
times,  Mr.  Hazard,  why  so  often  cultivated  taste 
is  unaccompanied  by  the  means  properly  to  gratify 
it.  Vice  versa,  also.  I  sometimes  think  the  happy 

144 


conjunction  of  the  two  is  about  as  rare  as  the  union 
of  beauty,  intellect,  and  riches  in  a  woman.  Is  hot 
that  your  opinion?  " 

"  So  it  would  seem,"  Hazard  responded  to  the 
clerk's  solicitude. 

"  Ah,  some  day  let  us  hope  you  may  have  both, 
Mr.  Hazard,"  Blish  unctuously  expressed  himself. 

"  What  are  you  talking  about, — my  want  of 
taste  or  of  the  woman?  "  demanded  Hazard,  less 
and  less  pleased. 

"  The  taste  you  possess  already,  taste  of  a  fine 
distinction,"  Blish  assured  him.  "  I  merely  ex 
pressed  the  hope  you  might  some  day  have  wealth 
in  proportion. — In  that  case  you  would  be  a  very 
rich  man,  Mr.  Hazard,"  he  added  succulently. 

Hazard  had  become  amused.  "  But  of  the 
woman,  what  of  her,  Mr.  Blish?  " 

"  Oh,  you  will  get  her,  too,"  promptly  replied 
the  clerk.  "  She  may  belong  to  the  money,  or  it 
to  her.  If  it  doesn't,  she'd  not  do  for  you,  Mr. 
Hazard.  Mere  beauty  cannot  compensate  for 
want  of  money  in  a  woman.  For  it  is  not  nature 
but  a  work  of  art  a  man  of  cultivation  looks  to 
find  in  a  wife.  One  who  is  not  a  work  of  art 
is  only  fitted  to  be  a  mother  of  a  family,  in  my 
estimation.  That  is  why  I  remain  unmarried,  Mr. 

145 
10 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Hazard.  I  never  could  think  of  falling  in  love 
with  a  poor  girl  and  I  do  not  know  any  rich  ones." 

"  That  fact  ought  not  to  constitute  an  insuper 
able  difficulty,  Mr.  Blish,"  said  the  musician,  cheer 
fully.  "  Unappropriated  heiresses  are  an  over 
production  in  Chicago,  I'm  informed." 

"  But  somehow  I  never  could  get  anywhere  near 
them,"  the  clerk  confided,  ruefully. 

"  But  I  should  suppose  a  gentleman — "  began 
Hazard,  with  no  decided  consciousness  of  irony. 

"  Then  you  class  me  as  a  gentleman,"  exclaimed 
Blish,  not  concealing  his  satisfaction. 

"  Why  not,  I'd  like  to  know?  "  asked  Hazard. 

"  That  is  what  I'd  like  to  know  myself,  too," 
echoed  Blish,  almost  querulously.  "  I,  Mr.  Haz 
ard,  possess  artistic  tastes,  I  know  how  to  dress  " 
(he  glanced  at  the  musician's  careless  attire)  "  and, 
if  I  do  say  it,  my  manner  is  not  bad.  I  suppose, 
then,  it  must  be  my  occupation,  Mr.  Hazard — it — 
it  is  hardly  gentlemanly,  is  it  now?  " 

"  Humph !  "  ejaculated  Hazard,  "  I  play  the 
fiddle  myself." 

Blish  smiled.  "  Yes,  but  excuse  me,  Mr.  Haz 
ard,  everybody  who  sees  you  knows  you  are  a  gen 
tleman;  your  caste  is  stamped  upon  you  as  truly 

146 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

as  its  value  is  upon  a  coin.  You — you  never  came 
up,  Mr.  Hazard." 

"  Though  I  certainly  have  gone  down,"  the  mu 
sician  amended. 

"  To  be  able  to  say  that  is  a  good  deal  to  be 
thankful  for,"  observed  the  clerk,  wistfully. 

"  Oh,  you  aren't  the  sort  would  have  enjoyed 
going  down  a  little  bit,"  Hazard  rejoined. 

"  It  could  be  no  worse  than  coming  up,  I  assure 
you,  Mr.  Hazard,"  declared  Blish,  with  comical 
solemnity.  "  Especially  when  what  I  am  now  is 
the  highest  I  can  get." 

In  the  clerk's  frank  exposure  of  himself  was  con 
cealed  a  shrewd  forecast.  It  was  like  casting  bread 
upon  the  waters.  He  calculated  that  voluntary 
humiliation,  if  it  earns  another  man's  contempt, 
will  commend  itself,  without  fail,  to  the  latter's 
pity  or  his  vanity.  If  one  command  another's  van 
ity  or  pity,  one  can  well  afford  to  endure  that 
other's  contempt. 


147 


CHAPTER   XV. 

THE  FIRST  LESSON. 

THE  interview  Hazard  had  with  Mr.  Farson 
he  was  positive  he  never  would  forget. 

"You  are  the  violinist,  aren't  you?" 
commenced  the  grand  Alonzo,  pulling  down  his 
nose.  "I'm  glad  to  know  you;  do  sit  down." 
The  builder  of  the  Pantheon  himself  remained 
upon  his  feet,  retaining  thereby  the  advantage,  and 
the  opportunity  to  strut. 

He  continued:  "  I  understand  your  name  is 
Hazard  and  that  you  are  a  Napoleon  in  your  art. 
My  daughter  tells  me  so  and  there  is  no  superior 
judge  concerning  art  and  music  and  the  other 
stupendous  achievements  of  culture.  My  daugh 
ter,  let  me  tell  you,  has  enjoyed  every  advantage 
that  America  and  Europe  combined  afford.  So  I 
trust  you  will  appreciate  to  the  full  the  inestimable 
privilege  of  instructing  such  an  adept." 

The  musician  attempted  to  respond  adequately 
to  this  efflorescence,  while  the  parent  of  the  paragon 
strode  up  and  down,  pulling  his  nose  and  wonder 
ing  how  much  the  young  man  was  impressed. 

148 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Collected,  very,"  commented  the  grand  Alonzo 
to  himself.  "  Most  likely  a  self-sufficient  young 
ass, — these  artists  all  bristle  with  conceit.  He 
hasn't  any  sense,  apparently,  of  the  sublimity  of 
magnitude;  he  doesn't  appear  commensurately 
stunned  with  the  rare  and  costly  luxury  in  the 
midst  of  which  he's  sitting  for  the  first  time  in  his 
life. — By  George,  I  don't  see  why  Gen  will  insist 
upon  intruding  so  slight  a  personage  into  our 
midst."  Mr.  Farson  sighed. 

Then  he  remarked:  "  We  fathers  of  this  time 
and  generation,  Mr.  Hazard,  are  compelled  tc  ac 
quiesce.  That  seems  to  be  our  function,  let  me  tell 
you  that.  My  daughter  is  persuaded  you  are  a 
young  Napoleon  of  the  violin,  and  as  she  has  al 
ways  been  passionately  devoted  to  the  instrument, 
she  desires  to  avail  herself  of  the  benefit  of  what 
instruction  you  can  impart." 

''  I  fear  I  cannot  undertake  to  teach  her  much," 
Hazard  mentioned. 

"  It's  not  what  you  think,  it's  what  she  thinks, 
young  man,"  declared  Alonzo  A.,  decisively. 
"  And  now  I've  looked  you  over  for  myself.  I  am 
a  great  judge  of  men,  Mr.  Hazard;  I  never  make 
a  mistake  in  my  estimate,  let  me  tell  you  that. 
When  I  built  the  Pantheon  here,  I  selected  rny 

149 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

agents  with  infallible  judgment  and  that  is  the 
secret  of  how  I  was  enabled  to  push  the  titanic 
proposition  through." 

"  Do  you  think  I'll  come  up  to  the  scratch?  " 
asked  Hazard  meekly,  a  perverse  twinkle  in  his 
eye. 

Alonzo  A.  stopped  short  in  his  majestic  stride 
and  split  the  young  man  with  his  penetrating 
glance.  "  Upon  the  whole,  I  do,  young  man." 
The  commendation  was  meant  also  for  a  repres 
sion.  "  At  first,  I  confess,  I  was  in  serious  doubt; 
but  generally  I  find  upon  review  that  my  daugh 
ter's  judgment  can  be  allowed  to  stand.  The  fact 
is,  she  derives  that  faculty  from  me.  For  observe, 
Mr.  Hazard,  a  great  man  usually  inherits  from 
a  remarkable  mother,  but  an  intellectual  woman 
from  her  father.  Napoleon  should  have  had  a 
daughter  instead  of  a  son." 

Indifference  had  so  far  been  displaced  by  in 
tense  desire  to  please  that  Miss  Farson  received 
the  musician  with  an  intention,  if  not  with  the 
perfected  practice,  of  cordiality.  She  led  into  the 
music  room.  "  Both  my  father  and  I  have  been 
charmed  by  your  playing,  Mr.  Hazard,  and  I 
think  it  good  of  you  to  be  willing  to  oblige  me." 

Hazard  supposed  he  ought  to  feel  immensely 

150 


flattered;  but  his  pleasure  was  not  pronounced. 
The  difficulty  that  presaged  was  too  obvious. 

One  of  two  usual  manners,  the  haughty  pose  or 
the  kittenish  play,  almost  any  woman  can 
achieve.  But  a  mode  of  subtlety,  of  complex  yet 
delicate  suggestiveness,  of  varying  qualities  that 
ripple  into  one  another  like  the  dissolving  shim 
mers  of  wind-kissed  water,  constitutes  an  art  or  is 
a  largess  of  inheritance,  and  hence  naturally  re 
stricted  to  a  few.  Of  the  two  manners  Miss 
Farsori'was  constrained  to  the  first,  since  what 
her'  body  lacked  in  suppleness,  her  temper  did  in 
pliability. 

Therefore  her  ill  success.  She  desired  to  win 
by  insinuation,  not  to  rely  upon  the  proclamation 
of  her  charms.  But  she  was  so  well  confirmed  in 
the  use  of  the  royal  prerogative  that  when  she 
strove  to  be  merely  sweet,  she  would  abruptly  lapse 
into  a  consciousness  that  she  was  silly,  to  resume, 
straightway,  all  her  wonted  majesty,  plus  a  stiff 
ening  of  embarrassment  besides.  Next  moment, 
realizing  how  fatal  to  her  purpose  hauteur  might 
prove,  she  would  make  a  decided  effort  to  be  rid 
of  it,  and  in  a  gust  of  immeasurable  despair  reveal 
by  one  passionately  entreating  glance  her  whole 
confusion,  her  yearning  heart's  submission. 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

The  dexterous  musician  trimmed  his  sails.  He 
would  willingly  have  remained  strictly  professional, 
— he  must,  he  felt,  if  peril  were  to  be  escaped. 
For,  old  hand  as  he  was  with  women,  the  con 
sequences  inherent  in  the  situation  caused  him  un 
easiness,  if  not  alarm,  since  the  dilemma  of  his 
fair  pupil,  though  it  might  be  regarded  humour 
ously,  he  found,  on  the  contrary,  was  troubling  his 
compassion. 

"  I  trust  I  may  succeed  in  answering  your  ex 
pectations,  Miss  Farson,"  the  musician  deprecated, 
in  answer  to  a  complimentary  remark.  "  But,  as 
I  informed  Mr.  Farson  a  moment  ago,  I  have 
never  taught  anyone  before,  and  I  am  myself  more 
of  an  amateur  than  anything  else." 

She  made  some  insistence;  then,  to  provide  a 
theme,  brought  out  her  violin.  "  This  is  my  in 
strument.  My  father  picked  it  up  by  accident  in 
Italy,  years  ago,  without  fancying  in  the  least  what 
he  was  securing." 

"  A  Stradivarius !  "  Hazard  exclaimed,  receiv 
ing  the  violin  from  her  hands. 

'  They   say  it  would    fetch   a   price  upon   the 
market.     What  do  you  think?"  she  inquired. 

His  eyes  sparkled  and  obliviously  he  over 
stepped  the  boundaries  that  define  the  pedagogic 

152 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

place.  "  What  wood!  How  resonant!  It's  a  bit 
of  a  miracle,  indeed.  Allow  me, — I  will  tune 
it  up." 

"  Do !  "  she  begged,  with  a  smile.  "  I  am 
afraid  of  it,  to  tell  the  truth.  It  is  too  much  for 
my  poor  deserts;  it  was  designed  for  some  en 
thusiast,  perhaps  expressly  for  you."  She  sent  him 
a  quivering  glance. 

But  he  was  bent  upon  the  instrument.  "  Pooh, 
I'm  only  a  fiddler,  a  fiddler  for  hire,"  he  scoffed. 
But  his  fingers  tinkered  fondly  at  the  strings. 
"  Lord — oh,  I  beg  your  pardon — but  by  Godfrey 
it  is  a  beauty.  Only  profane  English  can  express 
all  it  is;  its  own  Italian's  too  inept." 

'  Try  it,"  she  urged  cunningly,  enamoured  more 
of.  his  reality  than  she  had  been  of  his  image. 
"  See  for  yourself  if  it  is  truly  rich  and  sweet. 
I'm  convinced  it's  been  dumbly  longing  for  its 
own  true  master  for  a  long,  long  time."  Was  it 
a  parable  she  spoke? 

He  was  too  absorbed  to  ask. — "  Just  a  chord 
then. — Oh,  that's  deep! — How's  this? — Ah,  you 
are  pleased.  It  is  delicious.  Lord,  what  mellow 
ness,  what  purity,  what  colour!  " 

The  music  had  secured  him  fully  now.  He 
tucked  the  Stradivarius  lovingly  beneath  his  chin, 

153 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

half  closed  his  lids,  and  let  the  bow  wander  in  a 
dream  across  the  strings. 

She  leaned  on  the  piano,  her  body  vibrating 
with  the  music  that  he  played,  her  eyes  fixed  in 
fascination  on  the  changing  revelations  of  his 
face. 

His  ear  was  taken  captive  by  what  his  own 
hand  had  evoked.  Otherwise  he  felt  her  eyes 
only,  saw  her  midnight  hair.  Social  relativities, 
the  conventions  that  bade  pause, — of  what  signifi 
cance  were  they?  A  wonder  of  a  violin  was  in 
his  hands,  a  wonder  of  a  woman  listened,  that  was 
all  he  knew  or  cared  to  know. 

His  feet  escaped  the  cloying  earth;  he  floated 
into  the  empyrean  as  naturally  as  a  bird  swims  up 
the  air.  He  no  longer  practised  chords,  no  longer 
essayed  little  songs  and  bursts  of  melody:  it  was 
Chopin  and  illusion,  soft  magic  and  bewitchment. 
Then, — a  full  half  hour  gone. 

Twelve  metallic  strokes  from  the  next  room 
jarred  into  his  music,  shattering  the  dream. — 
"Noon?"  he  exclaimed,  wakened  to  consterna 
tion. 

She  smiled  for  the  suddenness.  "  Don't  mind 
that,"  she  said. 

His  one  arm  trailed  the  bow,  the  other  cradled 

154 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

the  violin  as  if  it  had  been  a  guilt. — "  A  pretty 
sort  of  teacher  I  make,"  was  his  self-criticism. 

They  faced  each  other,  he  grown  conscious  of 
his  liberty,  she  wondering  if  she  had  allowed  too 
wide  a  latitude. 

;'  I  forgot  altogether,"  he  extenuated,  "  the  in 
strument's  so  fine.  If  you  please,  we  will  regard 
this  wasted  hour  as  preliminary,  a  test  of  my  poor 
merits."  He  smiled,  diffidently  perhaps,  and  then 
bowed  as  he  fancied  might  become  a  humble 
musical  instructor.  "  I  hope  you  find  me  suitable." 

She  flushed  at  his  tone,  discovering,  or  imag 
ining,  irony,  no  doubt.  She  punished  him:  "If 
the  hour  has  passed  quickly,  it  has  been  profitable," 
she  said.  '  You  will  come  three  times  a  week 
as  arranged,  if  you  please, — and,  if  at  any  time 
I  should  prefer  to  hear  you  play  rather  than  to 
be  taught,  you  will  be  at  my  convenience,  of 
course." 

She  dismissed  him  with  a  bow  and  herself  left 
the  room.  He  found  the  way  out. 

"Parvenu  insolence!"  he  swore  beneath  his 
breath.  Nevertheless  she  had  overawed  him  for 
a  moment,  as  in  candour  he  was  forced  to  admit. 
"  She  dearly  needs  to  be  taught  a  lesson,"  he 
reflected,  the  temptation  to  inflict  it  in  the  future 
strong  upon  him. 

155 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

QUARLES'S  CANDID  JEALOUSY. 

YOU  find  that  satisfactory,  so  to  say?"  asked 
Casey,  smugly.  "  My  orders,  as  I  may 
state  'em  to  you,  Mr.  Hazard,  was  to  see 
you  satisfied.  The  Old  Man  is  of  the  opinion 
that,  as  the  builder  of  the  Pantheon  and  a  leader  of 
high  society,  it's  up  to  him  to  push  art  along  where 
he  can.  He  says  to  me, — '  See  that  genius  gets  its 
full  reward  and  a  little  over,  Casey.  That  young 
feller  is  a  new  Napoleon  in  his  line,  the  same  as 
us  older  Napoleons  are  in  ours,'  says  he." 

As  a  gentleman  Hazard  took  offence;  but  as  a 
humourist  he  was  delighted.  He  sacrificed  the 
former  part  of  him  to  the  latter.  "  Indeed,  Mr. 
Casey,  this  is  something  more  than  compensation. 
I  don't  know- 

"  A  feller  ain't  ever  a  good  judge  of  his  own 
turn,"  interrupted  Casey.  "  Either  he's  all  stuck 
up  about  it,  or  he  hasn't  enough  conceit.  My 
advice  to  you  would  be,  young  feller,  to  let  the 
Farson  family  do  the  judgin'  and  you  do  the 
fiddlin'.  I  can  tell  you  Miss  Farson's  gettin'  a 

156 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

heap  more  out  of  the  lessons  than  she's  payin'  for. 
It  ain't  the  violin  music  only  that  she's  after." 

"  That's  pleasant  to  know,"  responded  Haz 
ard,  unable  to  repress  his  smile.  "  But  I  am  sure 
I  should  be  much  better  suited  with  half ;  five  dol 
lars  an  hour  is  excessive.  I'm  not  a  virtuoso." 

"  Nor  a  contralto,  either,"  said  Casey  with 
solemnity.  "  But,"  he  tapped  a  finger  on  the 
young  man's  chest,  "  take  it  and  shut  up.  Don't 
be  registerin'  no  kick  when  the  luck's  runnin'  your 
way, — that's  no  time.  Wait  till  you're  bein'  did, 
if  you  want  to  holler." 

Hazard's  gorge  rose  under  this  familiarity  and 
at  this  vulgar  opportunism.  "  Why  do  they  send 
you  to  pay  me?"  he  demanded.  "You  pay  the 
grocer  and  the  butcher,  too,  I  suppose.  By  Jove, 
I've  a  good  mind  to  stop  giving  lessons." 

'  Tut,"  exclaimed  the  astute  Casey,  "  no  such 
thing.  You  ain't  a  fool.  Rich  people  ain't  like  us; 
they  don't  care  none  if  they  never  settle.  I  never 
knew  the  Old  Man  or  his  daughter  to  pay  a  bill 
yet.  If  it  wasn't  for  me,  they'd  get  sued  every 
season  in  the  justice  courts." 

"  But  I  don't  half  like  it,"  protested  the  mu 
sician. 

'  You   don't  have   to,"    advised   Casey,    "  but 

157 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

swaller  as  if  you  did.  A  young  feller  like  you, 
whose  fortune  is  his  face,  can't  afford  to  be 
squeamish.  You  ain't  rich  enough  to  find  fault 
with  how  rich  people  treat  you.  So  they  do  well 
by  you,  you  ought  to  hug  your  luck,  and  let  it  go 
at  that." 

"  I  suppose  that's  worldly  wisdom,"  the  musi 
cian  admitted. 

Why  should  he  not  acquiesce,  he  asked  himself, 
especially  since  he  seemed  unable  to  pump  up  the 
indignation  that,  as  a  gentleman,  he  ought  to  feel. 
If  he  were  bent  upon  playing  the  part  of  a  Bo 
hemian  violinist,  he  should  bear  in  mind  that  for 
a  hand-to-mouth  fiddler  to  display  finical  suscepti 
bility  was  absurd. 

Besides — let  it  be  whispered — the  money  looked 
large  to  the  musician.  He  needed  it,  badly  so; 
indeed,  he  could  scarcely  figure  how  to  get 
through  the  coming  Spring  without  the  help  of 
this  windfall.  When  he  was  a  gentleman,  how 
royally  he  had  despised  the  temptation  of  money 
to  which  men  are  so  prone  to  yield !  Now,  he 
wondered  sometimes,  having  made  acquaintance 
with  men's  exigencies,  that  they  had  the  strength 
to  resist  at  all. 

Despite    the    positiveness    of    his    theoretical 

158 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

democracy,  Hazard  retained,  against  his  will,  some 
exceedingly  troublesome  aristocratic  habits.  His 
stomach  still  was  proud,  revolting  often  at  common 
food,  and  continually  he  found  himself  yielding 
to  its  demands  and  spending  more  than  he  could 
afford  in  expensive  restaurants.  At  times  his  soul 
cried  out  for  the  aroma  of  delicate  wine.  The 
money  from  these  lessons  meant  for  him  an  in 
crease  in  these  exquisite  indulgences.  Besides,  it 
would  purchase  his  summer  stock  of  clothes. 

"  I've  sort  of  sized  up  life  from  what  I've  seen, 
Mr.  Hazard,"  observed  Casey,  and  clinched  the 
conclusion  in  the  musician's  mind,  "  and  I  find  it's 
all  a  man  can  do  to  get  it  comin'  once  his  way,  let 
alone  dictatin'  whether  it's  to  come  in  a  trickle  or 
a  flood. — Besides,  Mr.  Hazard,"  shrewd  Casey 
studied  the  musician's  face,  "  you  class  with  the 
gentry,  somehow,  you  do,  and  the  gentry  get  it  all 
anyhow,  someway. — There  ain't  nothin'  but  your 
own  self  can  keep  you  down." 

So  Hazard  accepted  what  chance  laid  at  his 
door.  He  experienced  occasional  fits  of  disgust, 
however,  during  which  the  Parsons  appeared  less 
humourous  than  some  other  things.  He  was  so 
feeling  on  the  afternoon  he  drove  with  Quarles 
behind  the  latter's  pair  of  blacks. 

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Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

As  the  two  friends  passed  the  Pantheon,  the 
Farson  carriage,  the  coachman  and  footman  in 
magenta  and  white  livery,  drew  up  before  the  en 
trance.  Miss  Farson  herself  swept  out  and  stepped 
into  the  waiting  equipage.  As  she  sat  down,  she 
bowed. 

Quarles  drew  in  his  horses  to  a  slower  gait. 
"  Miss  Farson  included  you  in  her  bow,  Ned,  did 
she  not?" 

"  I  fancy  she  did,"  Hazard  replied.  '  You 
know  I  am  engaged  to  give  her  violin  lessons, — 
three  a  week.  I've  given  her  two  already." 

"  Indeed,"  said  Quarles,  and  cut  the  right  hand 
horse  smartly  with  his  whip.  The  astonished  ani 
mal  leaped  forward,  and  to  curb  him  required  the 
firmest  grip. 

*  Yes,"  resumed  Hazard,  glibly,  "  I  meant  to 
tell  you  of  the  offer  the  first  night  we  saw  each 
other  and  ask  you  whether  I  had  better  accept  it. 
But  you  know  how  we  argued  and  discussed,  and 
I've  scarcely  seen  you  since." 

'  You  haven't  fallen  in  love  with  Genevra  Far- 
son,  have  you,  Ned? — She  is  a  beautiful  woman." 
Quarles  spoke  as  if  that  was  exactly  what  his 
friend  must  have  done.  He  kept  his  eyes  steadily 
on  his  horses. 

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Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  I  don't  think  so,  Val,"  Hazard  answered, 
promptly. 

"  Not  to  think  so  is  not  enough,  where  she's 
concerned,"  declared  Quarles,  bluntly.  Then  he 
blurted :  '  You're  such  a  damned  attractive  cuss, 
Ned,  you  know." 

"  Oh,  I  fancy  she'll  be  able  to  resist  my 
charms,"  laughed  the  musician  flippantly. 

But  Quarles  detected  the  note  of  satisfaction  in 
the  mirth.  Immediately  he  turned  the  conversa 
tion.  He  urged  his  friend  to  reconsider,  to  deter 
mine  for  once  after  the  fashion  of  a  practical  man. 
The  old  battle  was  re-fought  between  them,  while 
they  sped  north  through  Lincoln  Park  and  out  over 
Sheridan  Road.  And  the  upshot  was  as  usual, 
only  this  time  Hazard  refused  a  definite  offer. 

They  were  driving  citywards  again  and  the  air 
was  darkening  rapidly,  when  Quarles  recurred  to 
the  subject  which  had  been  between  them  since 
Miss  Farson's  bow. 

The  musician  essayed  to  set  his  friend  at  ease. 
"  If  you  must  know,  Val,  at  the  present  time  I 
am  much  more  likely  to  fall  in  love  with  Miss 
Vantage,  the  Pantheon  cigar-girl,  than  with  your 
haughty  beauty." 

161 

11 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  I  suppose  you'd  like  to  be  giving  her  fiddling 
lessons,  too,"  growled  Quarles. 

"  I'd  consent,  undoubtedly,  if  she  was  urgent 
about  it,  and  it  required  less  resistance  to  consent 
than  to  refuse,"  admitted  Hazard,  helplessly. 

"  That's  it,"  protested  Quarles.  "  In  perfect 
innocence  you  simply  drift  into  all  sorts  of  deviltry. 
I  know  your  style.  It's  a  thousand  pities  that 
precious  conscience  you're  always  lugging  in, 
shouldn't  influence  your  practice  a  little  bit,  instead 
of  filling  you  with  windy  qualms  about  the  riddle 
of  the  heavens  and  the  morals  of  the  earth.  It 
would  be  a  blessed  sight  more  edifying." 

"  I'm  sorry,"  Hazard  mentioned,  with  a  sweet 
contrition. 

'  The  deuce  you  are !  "  exclaimed  Quarles. 
'  Well,  then,  I'm  not,  by  Jingo,"  the  musician 
snapped.     "  And  just  what  are  you  going  to  do 
about  it,  pray?  " 

Quarles  set  his  grim  jaw  and  controlled  himself. 
He  drew  on  the  reins  until  the  horses  responded 
with  a  burst  of  speed.  He  loved  Hazard;  he 
had  loved  his  friend  years  before  he  loved  Genevra 
Farson.  Even  now,  in  his  wrath,  he  remembered 
it  had  always  been  he  who  in  their  friendship  had 
made  the  allowances. 

162 


It  was  night  when  they  passed  the  Pantheon 
again. 

Quarles  brought  the  horses  to  a  walk.  His  dis 
engaged  hand  gripped  Hazard's  knee.  "  Ned,  I 
tell  you  what  I'm  going  to  do.  You  will  not  like 
it,  but  I  guess  our  friendship  will  last  out, — it  al 
ways  has." 

"  It  will,"  said  Hazard. 

"  Ned,  I  mean  to  let  Miss  Parson  know  you  are 
a  dangerous  man,  and  how,  for  all  your  economic 
scruples  and  your  benevolence  at  large,  you  don't 
think  anything  at  all  of  breaking  a  woman's  heart." 

"  You're  not,"  said  Hazard. 

"  Ned,  I  am,"  Quarles  returned,  gravely. 

The  musician  drew  a  breath.  "  Well,  then,  do 
it,"  he  consented,  knowing  that  what  Quarles  said 
he  did.  He  added  rather  querulously:  "No 
doubt  you  think  so  well  of  me  you  believe  it  is  the 
money  that  attracts." 

"  No,"  said  Quarles  at  once,  "  no  more  than 
you  believe  it  is  jealousy  which  determines  my  re 
solve.  We  know  each  other  too  well  for  small 
suspicions,  Ned.  I  fear  for  the  girl, — it  is  an 
honest  fear.  All  who  know  you,  Ned,  know  you 
are  not  sordid;  but  you  love  too  well  your  favour 
ite  game  of  hearts." 

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Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  I  suppose  you  will  acquaint  her  with  who  I 
am  and  what  I  \vas,"  remarked  Hazard,  not  with 
out  irony.  '  You  will  not  leave  out  my  New 
England  conscience  and  all  that,  either,  will  you?  " 

"  I  will  tell  all  about  you,  all  I  know,"  said 
Quarles  soberly,  "  and  how  out  qf  pure  poetry  you 
love  all  women  as  a  man  should  love  only  one. 
How  that  is  what  makes  you  fascinating  and 
dangerous  in  spite  of  yourself  and  all  your  un 
usual  virtues,  my  son." 

Hazard  had  grown  nettled,  his  eyes  glittered. 
"Don't,  Val;  I  warn  you,  it's  a  foolish  thing. 
You'll  make  me  out  romantic,  and  romance  is  what 
her  soul's  fairly  panting  for.  You'll  challenge  her 
to  a  test  of  her  powers  as  a  woman,  and  of  her 
own  in  particular  she  is  inordinately  vain." 

Quarles  took  no  heed.  "  I  mean  to  tell  her  all," 
he  said. 

'  Then  your  blood  be  on  your  own  head,  you 
mule,"  snapped  the  musician  angrily. 


164 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

MISS    FARSON   RECONNOITERS    AND   ALONZO    A.    IS 

SHAVED. 

MR.  Quarles  did  as  he  said  he  would  do, 
when  next  he  met  Miss  Farson.     It  was  at 
an  afternoon  reception  in  society,  and  he 
was  able  to  draw  her  aside  for  fifteen  minutes. 

She  grew  scornful.  "  That  Mr.  Hazard  is  a 
gentleman  born  does  not  surprise  me;  your  tes 
timony  but  confirms  what  was  perfectly  obvious. 
As  to  your  interpretation  of  his  character, — and 
you  pretend  to  be  his  friend, — I  can  only  declare 
that  it  much  better  elucidates  your  own.  When 
you  add,  Mr.  Quarles,  that  he  is  engaged  in  a 
flirtation  with  a  girl  who  sells  cigars,  I  know  clear 
ly  to  what  motive  to  ascribe  your  disloyal  insinu 
ations." 

Feminine  logic  worsted  Quarles.  Somehow  he 
felt  that  he  ought  to  feel  ashamed.  Instead,  what 
he  was  chiefly  conscious  of  was  the  magnificence  of 
her  dark  eyes,  one  moment  glowing  with  devotion 
to  the  absent  man,  the  next  flashing  scorn  upon 
the  false  friend  present. 

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Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  I  may  also  state,"  she  added,  "  that  the  fact 
that  you  informed  Mr.  Hazard  of  your  purposed 
treachery,  by  no  means  diminishes  the  detestation 
with  which  I  view  your  conduct." 

Quarles  endured  the  lashing  like  a  Stoic;  but 
his  face  turned  white  and  he  shut  his  teeth.  He 
conceived  that  he  had  performed  a  duty;  but  he 
now  also  perceived  that  he  had  committed  an 
egregious  mistake.  His  revelation  had  inflamed, 
not  checked,  a  passion  already  burning  with  a  heat 
he  had  not  imagined  possible. 

In  that  very  moment,  when  for  the  first  time  he 
realized  that  she  was  lost  to  him  irretrievably,  he 
obtained  a  new  insight  into  her  nature  and  was 
compelled  to  a  new  respect  for  her.  She  was  not 
cold  at  heart  or  neutral  in  her  temperament,  as 
from  his  experience  with  her  he  had  suspected. 

Ah,  no,  as  he  saw  her  now  she  was  far  lovelier. 
Not  the  languid,  haughty  beauty,  eaten  with  a 
vast  indifference,  bored  even  by  what  she  seemed 
unable  to  dispense  with,  namely,  his  homage, — nc 
longer  that,  but  a  superb  and  throbbing  woman, 
with  flashing  eyes  and  heaving  bosom  and  lips  hot 
with  scorn,  confession  of  love  in  her  great  eyes, 
the  woman  she  was  to  his  friend. 

Quarles  was  noble  in  his  way.    He  looked  truth 

1 66 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

in  the  face;  his  mind  was  such  as  to  prefer  the 
fact  to  the  illusion,  even  if  the  kind  of  facts  it 
could  perceive  was  limited.  Moreover,  he  was 
severely  contemptuous  of  his  own  jealousy.  There 
fore,  gradually,  but  soon,  he  saw  his  way,  the  way 
of  honour,  the  one  way  left  open  to  him.  The 
woman  that  he  loved,  loved  the  friend  he  loved. 
He  must,  if  he  could,  keep  that  friend  from  mur 
dering  that  woman's  happiness.  He  even  came  to 
have  a  pleasure  in  the  thought  that  he  might  help 
those  two  whom  he  loved  best  to  annul  the  peril 
inherent  in  their  qualities.  He  would  labour  to 
that  end. 

Miss  Farson  in  the  most  quiet  half  hour  of  the 
following  afternoon  descended  to  the  lobby  of 
the  Pantheon.  On  the  pretext  of  being  in  search 
of  a  new  magazine  she  appeared  at  the  cigar  stand. 

The  Duchess,  scanning  an  afternoon  paper,  was 
not  aware  of  the  heiress's  proximity  until  the  lat 
ter  spoke.  "  I  will  take  these  periodicals,  if  you 
please." 

The  Duchess  made  the  change.  She  felt,  while 
counting,  the  scrutiny  of  the  dark  eyes  on  her  face. 

"  I  am  obliged,"  Miss  Faxson  said.  "  Your 
name's  Miss  Vantage,  is  it  not?  " 

"  Yes,"  the  latter  answered  in  a   pleased  sur- 

167 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

prise.  "  And  you  could  not  be  anyone  except  Miss 
Parson."  She  gave  the  beautiful  woman  an  ad 
miring  look. 

Miss  Farson  was  reflecting:  "  Yes,  she  is  fetch 
ing  in  a  way  and  one  can  see  she's  simple.  I've 
a  good  mind  to  take  her  under  my  wing.  It 
wouldn't  be  half  bad  for  her,  and  I  can  make  her 
like  me  better  than  she  can  like  any  man. — I'll  just 
play  safety."  Miss  Farson  was  a  good  cue  at 
billiards. 

Accordingly  she  said:  "We  are  here  at  the 
hotel  until  the  middle  of  March,  you  know.  And 
I  would  be  glad,  Miss  Vantage,  some  hour  when 
you  have  nothing  better  to  do,  if  you  would  come 
upstairs, — some  afternoon  early,  or  some  morn 
ing  late.  Do  you  like  gowns?  I  may  have  one 
or  two  will  please  you.  Or  stones?  Mine  may 
amuse  you  on  some  gloomy  day." 

The  Duchess  flushed  to  her  white  temples  with 
the  honour  of  the  condescension.  She  had  difficulty 
in  expressing  her  gratification  to  the  Princess  Royal 
of  her  fancy, — the  incident  was  like  a  dream  come 
true. 

'  She's  fresh  and  animated,"  observed  Miss 
Farson  to  herself,  as  she  rose  in  the  elevator,  "  but 
pooh,  she's  quite  too  unsophisticated  to  entangle 

168 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

any  man.  Perhaps  he's  a  little  sorry  for  her,  but 
that  is  all  it  could  be.  However,  there's  her  hair." 

Miss  Doty,  the  "  lady  cashier,"  had  noted  the 
episode  from  the  advantage  of  her  arch.  She  told 
clerk  Loye  of  it.  "  It's  gettin'  warm,  Loye,  old 
boy." 

"  I  guess  we've  been  giving  Dimples  the  hard 
end  rather,  Doty.  The  Duchess  means  well,  poor 
fool,  and  we'd  ought  to  be  a  little  easier  on  her." 

"Not  much!"  exclaimed  Miss  Doty.  "Her 
royal  Sly-boots  don't  come  it  over  me.  Think  of 
her  winding  up  old  Farce,  and  now  she's  rung  in 
the  daughter,  too,  right  here  under  our  noses." 

"  Well,  it's  a  fool  trick  to  spit  at  the  wind, 
Doty.  Lie  low  awhile,  that's  my  advice  to  you," 
said  clerk  Loye.  The  cashier  sullenly  admitted  the 
advice  was  sound. 

Casey's  spy  informed  Casey  of  Miss  Parson's 
appearance  in  the  rotunda.  The  fact  impressed 
Casey  as  unusual  and  he  fished  for  the  explanation. 

"  The  entire  lobby  was  commentin'  on  your 
style,  Miss  Parson,  when  you  was  down  to-day," 
he  ventured  with  the  impertinence  of  privilege  that 
evening,  as  he  passed  the  heiress  on  his  way  to  her 
father's  room. 

Her  features  sharpened.     "  Can  I  not  appear 

169 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

anywhere  without  attracting  the  stare  of  a  lot  of 
common  men?  " 

"  Them  ladies  that  can  are  them  that  get  left 
at  the  post,"  Casey  answered  with  succinctness. 

Miss  Parson,  though  so  high,  was  not  above 
flattery,  could  even  relish  a  gross  bit  at  times.  Be 
sides,  she  wanted  information.  "  Casey,  I  was 
rather  struck  with  the  young  woman  at  the  cigar 
stand  who  has  such  beautiful  hair." 

"  Miss  Vantage,  I  guess  you  mean." 

1  Yes,  Casey,  and  I  yielded  to  an  impulse  and 
asked  her  to  come  up  here  sometime.  There  can't 
be  any  objection,  can  there?  She's  nice?  " 

"  Never  heard  nothin'  against  her,  Miss,  except, 
like  most  red-headed  girls,  she  has  a  way  with 
men.  But  it  ain't  no  sin  to  be  popular;  it  helps 
in  her  position." 

"  She  is  very  much  so,  isn't  she?  Mr.  Hazard, 
the  new  music  teacher,  likes  to  talk  with  her, 
Mr.  Quarles  tells  me." 

"  I  never  seen  any  indications,  Miss,  to  warrant 
the  charge,"  Casey  answered,  with  the  gravity  of 
a  judge.  "  I  shouldn't  wonder  but  if  that  was 
one  of  Mr.  Quarles's  leetle  inventions,  I  shouldn't 
now." 

Casey's  red  tongue  cleaned  his  lips,  while  he 

170 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

noted  how  much  his  mistress's  face  lit  up.  He 
proceeded  to  invent:  "  Why,  Mr.  Quarles  himself 
has  a  leetle  habit  of  holding  up  the  cigar  stand. 
Him  and  the  red-headed  girl  are  great  friends  by 
the  looks  of  things.  Why,  any  evening  he  is  liable 
to  walk  up  to  the  Pantheon  from  his  rooms  to  buy 
one  cigar,  and  he  stands  there  smokin'  it  as  an  ex 
cuse  for  chattin'. 

Miss  Farson  nodded  as  if  her  notions  had  been 
in  some  way  confirmed,  and  the  discreet  Casey 
glided  out.  "  That  was  a  neat  plug  I  put  in," 
he  congratulated  himself. 

While  being  shaved  next  morning,  Alonzo  A. 
indulged  his  volubility  even  more  than  usual. 

"  Casey,  were  you  ever  disappointed  in  early 
love?  So  deplorable  a  misadventure,  encountered 
in  the  sensitive  days  of  youth,  frequently  results, 
Casey,  in  a  wound  that  never  heals." 

"  Sure,"  said  Casey.  "  Sure  I  was.  It  was  one 
of  the  experiences,  sir,  I  wouldn't  have  missed." 

"  Sorry,  Casey,  sorry  for  you,"  condoled  the 
grand  Alonzo,  as  Casey  lathered  his  chin.  "  I'm 
sorry  for  all  men  who  have  -endured  that  excruci 
ating  tragedy.  It  works  none  of  them  edification, 
— the  trial  is  too  severe.  You're  not  to  presume 
from  what  I  say  that  I've  ever  experienced  it  my- 

171 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

self;  for  in  love,  as  in  all  the  other  exigencies  of 
life,  I  have  invariably  triumphed,  let  me  tell  you 
that.  I  may  say,  Casey,  that  I  am  a  conqueror,  an 
inevitable  conqueror." 

"  Sure,  sir,  sure,"  soothed  Casey,  and  stopped 
his  patron's  utterance  with  soap.  ''  But  all  the 
same  you  preserve  a  wonderful  feller-feelin'  for 
us  wrecks,  sir.  It's  that  sort  of  sympathy  in  you 
has  kep'  me  goin', — it  has  helped  a  heap,  sir/' 

"  I'm  glad,  Casey,  glad,"  responded  Alonzo 
A.,  with  tears  in  his  tones,  when  sufficient  lather 
had  been  scraped  from  near  his  lips.  "  Ah,  in 
the  years  since  we've  been  master  and  servant, 
Casey,  a  warm  affection  has  developed  between 
us,  has  it  not?  And,  Casey,  you  have  been  stu 
pendously  improved  by  my  association  and  ex 
ample,  let  me  tell  you  that." 

"  Sure,"  said  Casey.  "  The  enjoyment  of  your 
society,  sir,  is  the  best  and  finest  influence  that 
ever  come  into  my  humble  life." 

'  When  I  first  picked  you  up,  Casey,"  the  grand 
Alonzo  continued,  "  you  had  the  natural  imperti 
nence  of  your  trade, — you  were  a  fellow  of  a 
barber,  Casey.  Now  that  I've  taught  you  your 
place  and  shown  you  what  it  is  to  be  a  gentleman, 
you've  developed  into  a  respectable  and  faithful 

172 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

menial,  Casey,  sufficiently  so  to  be  honoured  with 
my  sincere  affection,  let  me  tell  you  that." 

Casey  muzzled  the  loquacity  of  his  patron 
again.  "  And  what  Casey  wouldn't  do  for  the 
Farson  family,  sir,  St.  Patrick  wouldn't  Ve  for 
Ireland." 

"  Ah,  Casey,"  responded  Alonzo  A.,  between 
razor  strokes,  "  our  relations  may  truly  be  de 
scribed  as  feudal." 

"  Sure,"  said  grave  Casey. 

"  Though  you'll  have  to  take  it  that  it's  so 
from  me,"  explained  his  patron,  "  since  you  are 
much  too  ignorant  to  understand  a  term  taken 
from  the  classics." 

"  I  am,  sir,  that  I  am." 

"  Casey,"  began  Mr.  Farson,  presently, 
"  we've  run  oft  the  track  in  our  conversation. 
What  I  started  out  to  say  was  that  Gen  seems  to 
have  made  up  her  mind.  She  won't  have  Quarles, 
and  I  was  conjecturing  if  it  would  blight  his  young 
life." 

"  Sure  it  will,  sir.  Think  of  what  he's  losin' 
and  all  the  money,  too." 

"  Casey,  sometimes  you  convince  me  you  never 
will  outgrow  your  original  vulgarity, — the  barber 

173 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

will  show  through  the  polish  I  have  been  at  such 
pains  to  put  on  you." 

"  Excuse  me,  sir." 

"  To  return,  Casey," — Casey  was  now  waxing 
the  imperial  to  a  point, — "  Gen  thinks  Quarles 
isn't  refined  enough.  She  sets  it  down  to  his 
Stockyards  career.  She  says  it  shows  our  stage 
of  culture  in  Chicago  when  we  take  our  visitors 
out  to  see  that  horror.  What  do  you  think,  Casey, 
—do  you  think  the  Stockyards  must  have  a  ten 
dency  to  brutalize  a  man?" 

Casey  sagaciously  considered.  "  Well,  I  should 
say  it  must  have  a  lowerin'  effect,  sir.  Culture's 
a  pretty  fresh  paint  in  Chicago  and  the  packin' 
business  is  likely  to  rub  it  off  in  spots." 

'  That's  about  what  Gen  thinks,  Casey,  though 
she  uses  language  more  refined.  She  says  Chi 
cago  men  are  too  new.  She  keeps  harping  to  me 
about  family  of  late,  and  says  it  means  more  than 
money  or  position  or  success.  I  suspect  she  has 
some  other  young  man  in  her  eye  and  she  is  trying 
to  bring  me  'round  beforehand,  as  it  were."  Mr. 
Parson  chuckled  in  appreciation  of  his  own  shrewd 
ness. 

'  You  don't  say  so,  sir,"  said  simple  Casey. 

174 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

'  You  can't  guess  who  it  is,  Casey,"  simpered 
Alonzo  A.  "  Come,  make  a  try." 

"  You  can't  mean  that  fiddlin'  feller  who  gives 
her  lessons,"  hesitated  Casey. 

"  Exactly,  Casey.  He's  a  handsome  young  dog, 
isn't  he?  And  Gen  says  his  family  is  one  of  the 
oldest  in  New  England." 

"  For  all  that,"  asserted  Casey,  "  it's  a  tremen- 
jous  condescension  for  the  Farsons." 

"  You  think  so,  Casey?  " 

"  Sure,  sir,  sure.  Has  he  got  a  cent?  No,  not 
coppers  enough  to  pay  for  his  own  funeral  with." 

"  Well,  well,  that  doesn't  matter,  where  so 
much  pure  romance  enters  in.  I'm  an  awful  demo 
cratic  fellow,  I  am,  Casey,  though  the  common 
people  would  never  suspect  me  for  it,  let  me  tell 
you  that.  If  I  didn't  have  my  family  position  to 
maintain  and  my  own  achievements  to  live  up  to, 
I'd  be  very  accessible,  very  accessible,  indeed." 

"  Well,  the  young  feller  has  the  look  of  your 
kind,  sir,  even  if  he  ain't,"  consoled  Casey. 

"  True,  true,  Casey.  Besides,  the  world's  pre 
pared  to  overlook  a  good  deal  in  a  genius,  let  me 
tell  you  that." 

"  Sure,"  echoed  Casey.  "  The  young  feller  for 
fiddlin'  's  a  Napoleon,  sure." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  PARSON  FAMILY  STOOP. 

r 

OH,  I  think  your  daughter's  perfectly  splen 
did,   Mr.  Parson.     She's  too  beautiful  for 
anything,  and  so  gracious  in  her  manners." 
The  Duchess's  enthusiasm  was  superlative. 

"Pray,  where  did  you  learn  all  this?"  asked 
the  surprised  parent. 

"  Why,  she  came  down  here  yesterday  to  buy 
some  magazines,"  explained  the  new  admirer. 
"  And  actually  she  asked  me  to  go  up  and  see 
her  sometime, — she  said  she'd  be  glad  to  see  me. 
Now,  wasn't  that  lovely  of  her,  Mr.  Farson?  Al 
together," — the  Duchess  looked  arch, — "  I  think 
I  pretty  much  approve  of  both  members  of  the 
Farson  family." 

Mr.  Farson  evidently  excepted  in  a  measure  to 
the  extravagance  of  Her  statement.  "  I  am  de 
lighted,  of  course,  that  my  daughter  should  ap 
prove  so  decidedly  of  one  of  my  favourites.  Usu 
ally  it  is  just  the  other  way.  Gen  has  too  much 
foolish  pride,  though  she  would  not  be  a  Farson 
if  she  did  not  possess  pride." 

176 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Oh,  you  couldn't  have  accused  her,  if  you 
had  seen  her  yesterday,  Mr.  Farson.  She  was 
just  too  sweet.  And,  for  the  matter  of  that,  why 
shouldn't  she  be  proud?  "  the  Duchess  challenged 
stoutly.  "  I'm  sure  I  should  be  just  ten  times  as 
proud,  if  I  were  as  beautiful  and  superb  as  your 
daughter  is."  ' 

"  No,  you  wouldn't,"  fervently  protested  Alon- 
zo  A.,  "  you'd  be  nothing  of  the  sort.  I  know  you 
better  than  you  know  yourself,  child,  and  you 
never  could  be  anything  but  tender  and  loving 
and  considerate,  no,  not  if  you  tried." 

"  But  I  think  Miss  Parson's  stuckupness  be 
comes  her,"  contended  the  Duchess,  loyally.  "  If 
I  were  a  man  I'd  fall  in  love  with  just  her  style, 
I'm  sure." 

'  True,  she  is  ornamental,  I  admit,"  acknowl 
edged  the  proud  father,  with  a  sigh.  "  But  the 
soft  and  sweet  domestic  type,  the  woman  who  is 
unselfish  and  self-sacrificing,  is  far  better  to  live 
with,  child.  Confidentially,  as  between  us  two, 
I  gravely  question  whether  Genevra  will  ever 
make  the  man  she  marries  happy,  whereas  you. 
who  esteem  yourself  as  of  small  account,  would 
transform  the  most  stupendous  palace  into  a  cosy 
home,  and  contrive  to  melt  down  marble  stateli- 


12 


177 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

ness  into  clinging  comfort."  Alonzo's  voice 
broke.  He  held  his  head  very  high  to  conceal  the 
tears.  He  was  at  his  grandest  and  his  tenderest. 

The  Duchess,  with  a  woman's  instinct,  took 
alarm.  ''  I  am  afraid  you  do  not  appreciate  your 
daughter  as  you  should." 

"  Oh,  I  do  justice  to  her  fine  qualities,  never 
fear;  I've  lived  with  them.  She  is  a  most  superior 
person,  Genevra  is;  but  life  with  her  is  palatial, 
crystalline,  if  I  may  so  express  myself.  And  what 
a  desolate  heart  and  lonely  soul  has  longed  for 
for  years  is  homely  sympathy  and  womanly  min 
istration,  child,  let  me  tell  you  that.  Genevra  is 
superb,  but  I  do  not  credit  her  with  a  surplusage 
of  heart." 

The  susceptible  Duchess,  despite  her  ardent  ad 
miration  for  the  daughter,  understood  how  the 
father  could  be  miserable.  "  Poor  fellow," — she 
smiled  tenderly. 

Mr.  Parson  dealt  the  glass  of  the  cigar  stand  a 
melodramatic  slap.  "  I  tell  you,  child,  between 
ourselves,  what  I  am  resolved  to  do,  just  as  soon 
as  I  get  Gen  married  and  off  my  hands. — I'm 
going  to  defy  her  pride  and  the  opinion  of 
society  and  get  me  a  little  wife  all  to  myself 
to  love  me  in  the  good,  old-fashioned,  homely  way, 

178 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

one  who'll  appreciate  all  I  mean  to  lavish  on  her. 
I  am  sick  to  the  soul  of  grandeur's  isolation." 

The  grand  Alonzo  turned  directly  on  his  heel 
and  strode  off  in  magnificence.  The  humble  lady 
of  cigars  was  left  blushing  like  a  peony. 

In  such  grandiloquently  sentimental  style  did 
Mr.  Farson  woo.  His  daughter  used  another. 

;'  I  have  heard  all  about  you,"  she  said  to 
the  musician  in  that  manner  of  good-fellowship 
she  felt  was  judicious  and  yet  found  hard  to  as 
sume. 

;'  I  trust  to  my  credit."    Hazard  faintly  smiled. 

"  As  if  I  would  listen  to  anything  else."  She 
flung  up  her  head.  "  And  I  scarcely  needed  to  be 
informed  you  were  a  gentleman  born,  you  may  be 
lieve." 

"Am  I  any  the  better  for  that,  then?"  he 
asked,  to  her  surprise. 

"  Altogether  I  think  I  like  it  just  as  well,"  she 
smiled.  Then  she  flashed  coquettishly :  "I  also 
learned  that  you  are  dangerous. — As  if  I  had  to 
be  told  you  were." 

'  You  mean  you  haven't  found  me  so."  He 
challenged  her  half  averted  eyes. 

With  a  cheek  flaming  for  her  own  audacity  she 
answered:  "  I'm  sure  you  would  not  be  to  the  girl 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

you  cared  about,  whatever  you  might  prove  to  the 
one  who  merely  cared  for  you." 

"  Moral,"  he  cried  flippantly,  "  don't  ever  fall 
in  love  with  a  dangerous  man  until  the  dangerous 
man  first  falls  in  love  himself." 

A  moment  she  looked  daggers;  then  she  quiv 
ered  pitifully. 

Later  she  asked:  "  Do  you  regard  Mr.  Quarles 
as  a  true  friend?  " 

"  Of  course,"  answered  the  musician,  "  so  true 
he's  sometimes  troublesome." 

'  Yet  he  asserted  you  were  engaged  in  a  most 
desperate  flirtation  with  a  cigar-girl  downstairs." 
She  laughed,  but  it  was  apprehensively. 

'  That's  hardly  fair  to  the  young  woman,"  said 
Hazard,  straightforwardly.  "  She's  not  the  sort 
to  engage  in  a  desperate  flirtation,  even  if  I  am." 

Miss  Farson  quite  frankly  expressed  her  relief. 
"A  cigar-girl  indeed!  I  was  sure  you  were  too 
much  the  gentleman  ever  to  demean  yourself  to 
that  extent." 

Insensibly  he  recoiled.  Why  could  she  not  take 
the  fact  of  quality  for  granted?  Must  she  expa 
tiate  upon  it?  The  insistence  seemed  to  him  to 
bespeak  consciousness  of  unfamiliarity,  like  that  of 

i  So 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

a  new  lord  towards  his  title,  or  a  new  millionaire 
towards  his  millions. 

The  slight  distaste,  thus  created,  increased  sub 
sequently.  In  fact,  it  was  an  apprehension  on  his 
part  of  one  of  the  differences  in  breeding,  which 
according  to  his  creed  he  should  ignore. 


181 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  TEMPERAMENT  OF  THE  DUCHESS. 

SHE  went  down  to  breakfast  Sunday  morning 
very  late,  but  even  then  encountered  a  few  of 
the  boarders.  The  coffee  tasted  bitter  and  the 
hot  bread  was  sodden.  She  laid  a  fresh  napkin 
at  her  place  over  the  spotted  tablecloth,  and  as 
she  looked  up  from  the  act  caught  the  disapprov 
ing  frown  of  the  landlady. 

'  You're  too  finicky,  Miss  Vantage,"  that  per 
sonage  remarked.  "  It's  a  pity  some  rich  man 
don't  marry  you." 

"Oh,  Miss  Vantage  ain't  getting  left,"  re 
marked  a  facetious  boarder.  "  I  don't  know 
whether  he's  rich  or  not,  but  he  sits  up  in  the  par 
lour  with  her  three  nights  a  week." 

The  other  boarders  cackled,  looking  with  kind 
ly  interest  above  the  tops  of  their  Sunday  papers 
at  the  blushing  Duchess. 

;'  If  some  people  would  only  'tend  to  their  own 
affairs!  "  Her  nerves  had  snapped.  She  got  up 
from  the  table  and  left  the  room. 

182 


The  landlady  glanced  guiltily  at  the  almost  un 
touched  breakfast.  "  You  oughtn't  to  tease  the 
poor  girl,"  she  complained. 

A  boarder  laughed:  "You  began  it  yourself, 
Mrs.  M." 

1  I  never  said  a  blessed  word,"  retorted  the 
lady,  thereby  convincing  herself  of  her  own  neu 
trality. 

Upon  the  refreshment  of  a  quarter  of  a  muffin 
and  a  mouthful  of  coffee  the  Duchess  proceeded 
to  church.  She  walked.  The  light  blue  cloak  she 
wore  over  her  fresh  and  pretty  gown  to  shield  her 
from  the  late  winter  wind,  was  unbecoming 
and  was  getting  shabby.  She  had  bought  it  on  a 
bargain  day  at  a  department  store  two  years  ago. 
She  economized  on  her  wraps  to  be  extravagant 
en  her  dresses. 

However,  the  untoward  garment  did  not  so 
much  affect  her  cheerfulness  as  did  the  prosper 
ously  genteel  people,  like  herself  on  the  way  to 
church,  with  whom  she  mingled. 

The  superficial  contact  pained  the  Duchess,  but 
likewise  it  pleased.  True,  the  ostracizing  glances, 
seine  of  them  bent  on  her,  seared  her  sensitive 
skin,  making  her  realize  her  hopeless  alienation 
from  their  world.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  fine 

183 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

clothes,  the  words  of  cultivated  speech,  their 
amenities  of  manner,  had  a  soft  effect  like  quiet 
music  on  her  harassed  nerves.  The  evidence  of 
orderly  and  decorous  life  confirmed  her  recogni 
tion  that  not  all  the  world  was  vulgar,  a  world 
of  work  and  want  and  woe.  To  believe  in  the 
existence  of  something  better,  although  without 
hope  of  ever  sharing  it,  is  a  consolation  to  a  good 
heart. 

She  left  the  church  before  the  ceremonial  ser 
vice  was  completed,  as  her  six  hours'  duty  at  the 
Pantheon  commenced  half  an  hour  after  noon. 
In  the  street  a  wave  of  giddiness  passed  over  her; 
she  had  had  no  food  and  the  emotions  stirred  by 
the  ritual  had  taken  of  her  strength.  She  could 
scarcely  lift  herself  upon  the  cable  car,  and  when 
she  sat  back  in  her  seat,  she  was  "  limp  as  a  rag."" 

She  loathed  the  atmosphere  in  which  she  soon 
must  be  immersed.  The  rotunda  Sunday  after 
noons  always  seemed  horrible  to  her, — the  sat 
urated  air,  the  stale  flavour,  the  yawning  men, 
who,  engaged  in  killing  time,  sat  in  the  wide  win 
dow  gloomily  to  watch  Chicago  in  one  avenue 
stream  by. 

The  anticipation  was  sufficiently  disgustful  to 
have  turned  her  back,  defiant  of  necessity;  had  not 

184 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

the  air  been  so  keen,  it  would  have  driven  her 
indoors,  and  her  only  indoors  was  the  boarding- 
house.  "  The  frying-pan  or  the  fire,  that's  my 
choice,"  she  expressed  the  dilemma,  and,  lo,  at 
once  felt  more  cheerful.  There  were  few  evils  a 
quick  turn  of  the  tongue  could  not  better,  the 
Duchess  found. 

Vivaciously  she  began  a  count  of  the  many 
things  she  had  to  be  thankful  for,  her  "  gentlemen 
friends  "  among  the  first  of  them.  Herself  she 
took  to  task:  "  What  a  stupid  frump  and  a  mel 
ancholy  mope  you  are !  Why,  you  know  you  en 
joy  the  Pantheon,  that  you  like  seeing  things  and 
living  close  to  the  hum  of  the  big  world.  And 
there  are  all  the  men  you  like,  who  come  and 
talk  to  you.  Your  days  may  be  dreadfully  dreary, 
but  how  much  sadder  they'd  be  if  old  French  Mar 
shall  Colonel  Patten  and  Alonzo  A.,  dear  soft 
mush,  and  Prince  Beautiful  Mr.  Hazard  and  Lord 
Chesterfield  Truesdale  Blish  couldn't  come  lean  on 
your  counter  and  talk  nice  to  you,  each  once  a  day 
or  oftener.  I  guess  then,  young  woman,  you 
would  have  a  kick  coming." 

Like  a  sudden  burst  of  sunshine  a  thought 
chased  the  last  shadows  from  her  face.  Why, 
what  a  goose  to  get  the  grumps.  Was  not  this 

185 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Sunday,  "  the  Sunday  of  the  pleasant  ending  "  she 
had  been  looking  forward  to  so  many  weeks?  Mr. 
Blish,  a  month  ago,  had  arranged  to  take  her  on 
this  very  evening  to  "  The  Opening  Night  "  of  the 
Winter  Garden.  Cheer  up,  the  world  was  not  all 
blue,  nor  the  outlook  entirely  dull ! 

She  knew  exactly  how  it  would  be.  Truesdale 
Blish  would  lean  his  good-looking  head  near  to 
hers  and  discourse  intimately  of  all  his  ideas  and 
hopes.  And  she  would  humour  him,  even  to  the 
serious  extent  that  he  desired.  She  would  repress 
her  wish  to  laugh,  even  when  the  confidence  grew 
mightily  absurd.  She  knew  how  dearly  he  loved 
to  pose,  to  be  appreciated  for  a  man  of  the  world, 
the  most  sophisticated  that  ever  condescended  to 
a  girl  of  the  working  class.  The  Duchess,  despite 
her  simpleness,  had  perception. 

The  other  part  of  Blish's  talk — that  not  about 
himself — would  be  as  knowing,  as  cynical,  as  he 
could  make  it  sound,  as  informed  as  if  he  were  the 
confidant  of  half  the  clubmen  in  Chicago  and  not 
a  few  of  their  wives.  She  would  indulge  him  to 
the  uttermost,  her  admiring  acceptance  of  what  he 
said  made  him  so  happy.  For  all  of  which  she 
would  contain  her  laughter  until  she  had  gotten 
home  again,  when  how  much  she  would  enjoy  the 

1 86 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

extraordinary  merriment  the  dear,  solemn  fellow 
had  unsuspectingly  afforded ! 

Notwithstanding  her  sense  of  humour,  Blish  im 
posed  upon  the  Duchess  almost  his  own  estimate 
of  himself.  He  fulfilled  her  crude  ideal  of  what 
the  man  of  the  world  should  be,  which  ideal  means 
much  to  a  "  saleslady "  in  this  era  of  "  Tri 
umphant  Democracy  "  and  universal  aspiration. 

So  the  Duchess  gave  respectful  credence  to  the 
clerk's  specious  account  of  his  high  connections  in 
the  East  and  his  social  acquaintance  in  Chicago. 
She  could  not  guess  what  were  the  sources  of  the 
intimate  knowledge  which  was  his  pride. 

Men  of  society,  many  of  them,  bought  apparel 
from  him  across  the  counters  of  Messrs.  Pattern 
and  Patten.  Some  of  them  he  flattered  so  accep 
tably  that  they  confided  to  his  discreet  ear  little 
episodes  in  which  they  had  themselves  figured 
leadingly,  or,  perhaps,  a  secret  of  the  clubs,  a 
bit  of  dainty  scandal,  a  choice  personality  or  two. 

Similar  indirection  was  responsible  for  what  he 
knew  of  "  fashionable  women."  Men-milliners, 
who  were  his  friends,  supplied  them  hats;  their 
movements  he  followed  in  the  society  columns  of 
the  newspapers.  His  scrupulous  imagination  had 
conceived  images  of  the  personality  of  every  one 

187 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

of  them,  which  he  verified  and  corrected  as  hear 
say  and  opportunity  allowed.  He  could  sit  in  the 
windows  of  the  Pantheon  and  tell  whose  horses 
were  being  driven  by,  or  the  name  of  the  woman 
who  occupied  each  carriage. 

He  worshipped  those  women  in  his  thoughts. 
He  spent  hours  reproducing  mentally  their  gowns, 
their  luxuries,  their  amusements,  points  of  manner, 
intimate  characteristics.  A  romance  with  any  of 
them  would  have  given  him  a  rapture  incompar 
ably  unique.  Ah,  could  she  but  divine  his  infinite 
capacity  for  worship,  his  power  of  unspeakable  de 
votion,  some  one  of  them  would  surely  deign  to 
want  him  for  her  husband. 

In  default  of  any  wealthy  and  aristocratic  at 
tachment,  Blish  found  some  solace  in  the  senti 
mental  friendship  of  the  Duchess.  What  faculty 
he  dreamed  of  expending  some  day  upon  the  deco 
ration  of  a  patrician  wife,  he  lavished  now  benevo 
lently  upon  the  Cinderella  of  the  Pantheon.  He 
had  an  ambition  to  fit  her  "to  move  in  the  best  so 
ciety,"  although  her  chance  of  ever  doing  so  was 
the  slimmest  of  the  slim.  Already  he  was  proud 
of  the  transformation  his  instruction  had  pro 
duced. 

He  had  commenced  with  her  locks  and  finished 
1 88 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

with  her  gowns.  The  fashion  in  which  she  had 
primped  her  hair  she  had  brought  over  from 
Michigan;  but  he  had  insisted  that  she  comb  it 
simply  back,  allowing  its  red-gold  masses  to  sur 
mount  her  head  like  a  crown.  Then  he  criticised 
what  she  wore,  advised  her  about  her  purchases, 
and  told  her  where  to  have  the  goods  made  up. 
He  secured  discounts  for  her  from  exclusive  men- 
milliners  and  fashionable  modistes.  In  fact,  he 
re-created  her.  The  Duchess  was  thus  enabled  to 
possess  one  suit  of  tolerable  elegance,  so  that  on 
the  rare  occasions  when  she  went  out  with  him, 
he  was  far  from  being  ashamed  of  her. 

In  return  for  such  inestimable  services  as  these, 
did  the  Duchess  bestow  upon  the  clerk  a  heart  for 
which  he  had  not  asked?  It  might  be,  since  she 
was  a  most  grateful  as  well  as  a  most  genial  crea 
ture.  However,  of  a  nature  of  such  quick  sympa 
thies,  that  on  the  least  provocation  found  th<>- 
world  so  pleasant  and  so  much  in  man  to  like,  it 
never  could  be  safe  to  predicate  an  exclusive  or  a 
final  love, — at  least  not  without  proof  manifest. 


189 


CHAPTER  XX. 

AT  THE  WINTER  GARDEN. 

SUNDAY  night  is  a   festival  in  Chicago,  and 
the  Winter  Garden  on  its  opening  night  con 
tributed  to  make  it  more  so.     Growing  trees 
and  tropical  plants  flourished  in  the  warm  air  under 
the  lofty  roof  of  glass.     Small  tables  dotted  the 
spacious  arena  and  about  them  were  clustered  the 
amusement  seekers. 

Cheap  clerks,  girls  who  worked  for  a  bare  liv 
ing,  artisans  dressed  up  for  Sunday,  honest  Ger 
mans  and  their  wives,  composed  the  crowd.  In 
addition  there  were  some  representatives  of  the 
world  of  sport  and  of  the  world  of  plunder,  horsey 
looking  men  and  plethoric  Irishmen  with  big  gold 
chains  drawn  across  their  swollen  waistcoats. 
Many  of  these  escorted  women,  overdressed,  with 
diamonds  sparkling  on  their  fingers.  Virtuous 
girls  saw  there  what  wages,  in  contrast  to  their 
own,  are  paid  sin,  and  young  fellows  who  had  just 
the  price  of  one  more  beer,  beheld  the  fat  beast 
display  his  "  wad." 

Quarles  and  Hazard  had  a  table  to  themselves 

190 


in  the  centre  of  the  press.  They  smoked  and 
chatted  and  reminded  one  another  of  times  in  col 
lege,  when  they  had  thought  themselves  mighty 
gay  and  naughty. 

"  Here's  your  righteous  proletariat,  Ned,  en 
joying  itself,"  Quarles  remarked.  "  And  to  save 
me,  I'll  be  hanged  if  I  can  see  where  the  oppres 
sion  comes  in.  You're  a  jolly  doctrinaire,  old 
chap;  there's  a  minimum  of  injustice  in  America." 

"  Oh,  of  course,  I'm  up  in  the  air,"  retorted 
Hazard,  "  but  if  I  am,  you're  down  under  the  dust, 
Val  Quarles.  Not  that  you  haven't  benevolence 
in  your  own  way;  but  it  satisfies  you  to  fill  peo 
ple's  bellies,  so  you  provide  them  on  the  side  with 
some  extra  change  for  this  Sunday  sort  of  thing." 
He  indicated  the  garden  as  being  what  he  desig 
nated  "  this  sort  of  thing." 

"  That's  it,"  smiled  Quarles,  a  little  grimly,  as 
if  the  enemy  had  delivered  himself  into  his  hand, 
"that's  it:  you  are  too  nice,  too  fine,  too — too 
Bostonese,  to  appreciate  this  sort  of  thing.  You'd 
have  symphony  concerts  for  the  workingmen  and 
Browning  lectures  for  the  scrubwomen.  You  come 
out  with  me  to  the  Stockyards  (where  you  won't 
go)  and  I'll  show  you  things  as  they  are,  not  as 
anaemic  New  England  conceives  they  ought  to  be. 

191 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

My  muscular  giants  out  there,  who  wallow  'round 
in  blood,  want  to  be  drunk  when  they're  not  work 
ing,  and  the  strapping  wenches  like  to  sling  Bil 
ingsgate  at  everything  in  range. — You've  no  no 
tion  of  humans,  my  son." 

The  musician  sickened  at  the  recital.  "  Ugh,. 
no  more  horrors,  Val !  I've  had  all  I  can  stand. 
Men  are  brutalized;  their  employments  do  it,  I 
grant  you.  But  you  damn  them  as  if  the  fault 
were  theirs." 

"  I  don't  split  hairs  about  responsibilities,  if 
that's  what  you  mean,"  said  Quarles.  "  The  em 
ployments  are  inevitable,  so  are  the  consequences. 
This  world  is  no  spontaneous  pasture  to  support 
a  race  of  exquisite  ethical  and  aesthetic  aristo 
crats." — He  indicated  Hazard  pointedly. — "  On 
the  contrary,  that  men  may  live  at  all  requires 
heart-breaking  toil,  the  health,  the  happiness,  the 
lives  of  thousands. — Mind,  though,  that's  not  say 
ing  there's  not  some  fun  for  everybody,  when 
all's  said  and  done." 

"  But  would  not  unselfishness  and  a  right  phil 
osophy  mitigate  the  severity  of  the  lot  of  mil 
lions?"  rejoined  Hazard.  "You — you,"  he  re 
peated  indignantly,  "  estimate  men  as  so  many 
pairs  of  hands,  as  so  many  strong  backs.  The  in- 

192 


dividual  soul  you  do  not  acknowledge;  you  sneer, 
perhaps,  at  the  notion  of  it.  Civilization,  to  your 
mind,  is  an  industrial  machine, — you  do  not  be 
lieve  in  moral  forces,  in  the  potency  of  the  ideal." 

Shrewd  was  Quarles's  response:     "  Do  you?  " 

And  Hazard  quailed  beneath  the  amused  in 
spection  of  his  friend's  grey  eyes. 

"  But  have  you  no  pity,  Val?  Does  your  heart 
never  bleed?"  he  asked  uncertainly. 

Quarles  leaned  back  in  his  chair,  perhaps  to 
prevent  too  close  scrutiny  of  his  face.  "  What 
do  you  suppose?"  he  growled. 

Presently:  "Yes,  I'd  be  sorry  enough,  if  I 
took  time  to  let  myself ;  but  what's  the  use?  And, 
after  all,  the  vast  majority  are  callous;  their  ca 
pacity  for  callousness  is  indefinite.  A  hot-house 
flower  like  you,  Ned,  has  no  conception  of  how 
hardy  open-air  plants  become." 

"  But  the  exception — the  exception,"  Hazard 
urged,  as  if  fearful  lest  before  he  could  speak 
his  friend's  softened  mood  would  pass.  "  They 
suffer  when  they  are  denied;  they're  not  satisfied 
with  a  bellyful.  They've  aspirations,  ideality,  all 
sorts  of  uneconomic  frills,  have  they  not?  " 

Quarles  nodded.  "  Of  course,  of  course. 
There  are  always  the  individual  tragedies.  I  was 

13  '93 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

speaking  of  the  general  laws,  not  considering  the 
accidental  incidents." 

"  But  the  individual  tragedies  are  numerous, 
very  much  so  in  our  aspiring  America,  so  fre 
quent,  to  tell  the  truth,  that  sometimes  it  looks  as 
if  they  were  the  law."  Hazard  felt  that  here  his 
foil  had  finally  pricked  home. 

"  What  of  it?  "  exclaimed  Quarles.  "  Do  you 
want  me  to  ignore  the  economic  laws?" 

"  Oh,  I  know  you  can't,"  the  musician  answered. 
"  But  you  can  recognize,  at  least,  the  desperate 
predicament,  the  pathos  of  so  many.  Why,  that, 
to  me,  is  the  tragedy  of  America;  it  constitutes 
the  irony  of  democracy.  So  many  ask  for  bread, 
— the  most  of  them  receive  a  stone.  Freedom 
generates  desires  and  Realization  denies  them  all. 
For  instance,  there's  that  cigar-girl  at  the  Pan 
theon." 

"  Always  that  cigar-girl,"  smiled  Quarles,  skep 
tically.  '  Ned  Hazard,  I'm  afraid  you're  up  to 
some  of  your  old  tricks." 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,"  asserted  the  musician.  "  I 
select  her  because  she  is  at  hand.  She's  one  of 
my  army  of  exceptions,  with  her  tense  American 
nerves  and  her  crude  American  refinement.  She 
looks  worn  out  every  day,  pained  by  the  experi- 

194 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

ence  and  hurt  of  what  she's  had  to  endure.  Yet 
she  appears  fresh  each  new  day.  What  recuper 
ates  her  courage  and  her  gaiety?  Her  invincible 
Americanism,  her  exhaustless  faith  in  the  excel 
lence  of  life.  So  she  typifies  America,  who,  de 
spite  her  intelligence  and  intensity,  is  naive  in 
what  she  takes  for  granted,  is  a  child." 

"  Quite  a  dithyramb,  Ned,  and  here  comes  its 
subject  through  the  entrance.  Look!"  directed 
Quarles.  "Who's  the  chap  with  her?  Oh,  that 
man-milliner  of  old  Patten's — damned  ass!  " 

The  musician  beheld  the  Duchess  tripping  light 
ly  into  the  garden,  at  her  elbow  Truesdale  Blish. 
The  couple  threaded  the  maze  of  tables  on  the 
left  and  Hazard  noted  the  happy  wonder  and  ex 
citement  of  her  face. 

Quarles  spoke:  "You  don't  half  like  it, 
Ned.  Ought  she  to  be  here?  " 

"  I  hardly  know,"  said  Hazard.  "  But,  Val, 
see,  they're  going  into  one  of  those  private  rooms 
that  open  only  on  the  stage  and  have  curtains." 

"  Is  he  part  knave,  then,  as  well  as  all  fool?  " 
asked  Quarles. 

"  No,  there  is  no  harm  in  Blish,"  said  Hazard, 
his  eyes  fixed  on  the  closing  door  of  the  private 
room.  "  But  he  ought  not  to  compromise  her  by 
appearances." 

195 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

EXCEPTION  OR   EXAMPLE. 

OUARLES  tossed  his  cigar  away.  "  Let  us 
have  some  more  beer,  Ned.  By  the  bye, 
is  it  likely  she  can  be  in  love  with  that  jack 
she's  with?  " 

"  She  admires  him,  I  fancy,"  the  musician  an 
swered,  a  little  surprised  at  the  question  from  his 
friend.  "  That  is  to  say,"  he  qualified,  "  she 
sees  him  through  illusion,  as  she  sees  everything. 
She  looks  at  the  world  through  the  medium  of  her 
own  soul  and  everyone  appears  to  her  as  good,  or 
at  the  worst,  as  pitiful." 

"  That  would  ruin  a  man,  but  it  sounds  attrac 
tive  in  a  woman,"  observed  Quarles.  "  Go  on, 
tell  me  about  her." 

Hazard  for  a  moment  harboured  a  suspicion, 
but  only  for  a  moment.  He  resumed:  "Good. 
Her  case  illustrates  my  theory  concerning  the  pre 
dicament  of  so  great  a  minority  in  our  democracy. 
You  have  no  patience  with  pathos  in  the  abstract, 
Val ;  perhaps  you  can  be  affected  by  a  concrete  ex 
ample." 

196 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Stuff !  "  declared  Quarles,  annoyed.  "  I  dis 
play  a  little  human  curiosity  about  a  pretty  girl 
and  you  at  once  go  and  revolutionize  my  complete 
philosophy  for  me." 

"  Oh,  then,  I'll  satisfy  your  curiosity  and  make 
my  point  at  the  same  time,"  rejoined  the  musician. 
"  Her  environment  and  herself  constitute  a  para 
dox,  to  begin  with.  She  has  no  breeding,  per 
haps;  but  she  has  gentle  instincts.  Sometimes 
she  amazes  you  with  her  perception,  its  acute- 
ness,  its  delicacy;  and  then  she  will  exasperate 
you  by  some  crude  conviction.  For  instance,  she 
mistakes  Blish  for  a  man  of  the  world;  she  fan 
cies  him  a  gentleman.  Sincere  herself,  the  pre 
tensions  of  others  impose  on  her." 

"  She  lacks  shrewdness,"  Quarles  interpreted. 
'  The  want  can  be  forgiven  in  a  woman." 

Hazard  continued:  "  You  know  her  first  name 
is  Elsinore,  after  the  Danish  castle  in  Hamlet. 
Elsie  everybody  called  her  except  her  mother, 
whose  romantic  craving  the  sounding  cognomen 
satisfied.  And  the  name  tells  everything, — birth, 
parentage,  conditions,  education,  and  development 
are  all  in  it.  She  was  born  across  the  lake  on  a 
Michigan  farm,  and  in  the  midst  of  that  meagre, 
starved  and  unlovely  existence  her  mother,  reach- 

197 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

ing  vainly  after  the  beautiful,  called  her  Elsinore. 
It's  pathetic." 

"  You  are  fanciful,"  said  Quarles,  quietly. 

"Am  I?"  questioned  Hazard.  "Listen.  I 
can  sketch  the  story  of  her  life  as  she  has  told  it 
bit  by  bit,  and  I  can  imagine  much  of  what  she 
left  untold,  of  what  she  couldn't  tell." 

And  he  related  what  he  knew  and  what  he  had 
divined.  He  spoke  of  her  vivid  fancy  and  her 
keen  repinings,  of  her  dreams  and  of  her  revolts, 
of  her  vision  of  the  great  city  across  the  lake  and 
her  conception  of  what  warm  rapture  life  might 
be.  He  told  how  she  taught  a  country  school 
and  read  the  poets,  of  her  pity  for  her  mother 
and  of  the  disgust  she  conceived  for  the  country 
yokels. 

Life  called  to  her.  No  railway  ran  within 
twenty  miles  of  the  farm,  no  small  city  stood  near 
by.  Along  a  country  road  followed  the  telegraph 
poles,  and  what  the  wires  sang  to  the  wind  seemed 
to  her  listening  ear  the  hum  of  the  distant  world, 
whose  proceedings  were  so  interesting.  She  would 
halt  in  the  muddy  roadway  close  to  a  pole  and 
strain  her  sense  to  catch  the  news  as  it  flashed 
overhead  from  great  city  to  great  city.  She  ag- 

198 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

onized;  she  could  not  bear  to  be  left  out;    she 
must  have  her  fling. 

One  soft  summer  dawn  she  stole  out  the  farm 
house  with  twenty  dollars  in  her  pocket  and  a 
little  bundle  under  her  arm.  All  day  she  walked 
upon  the  country  roads,  and  the  next  day  and  the 
next,  until  she  reached  Holland.  There  she  got 
aboard  a  steamer  bound  across  the  lake.  In  the 
morning  she  was  landed  in  Chicago. 

Hazard  made  a  poetical  extravaganza  of  her 
arrival.  "  The  boat  was  late,  she  says,  and  it 
was  dark  when  they  were  still  an  hour  out.  She 
saw  the  lights  of  the  city  to  which  she  was  to 
come, — the  stretching  miles  of  them  on  the  low 
shore.  She  saw,  southward,  the  lurid  reflection 
of  the  great  steel  furnaces  against  the  sky,  and 
the  roof-garden  on  top  of  the  Masonic  Temple 
looked  to  her  like  some  gigantic  heathen  altar 
aflame  with  sacrifice.  She  stood  by  herself  on  the 
fore  deck  of  the  boat,  unnoticed  and  unknown,  cry 
ing  at  sight  of  it  all,  feeling  how  wonderful  and 
terrible  and  beautiful  was  the  world  the  good  God 
had  made  and  blessing  Him  for  the  opportunity, 
which  frightened  her  and  gave  her  joy,  the  oppor 
tunity  to  live  life,  to  breathe  it  and  act  it  and 
love  it.  " 

199 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Poor  fool!  "  grunted  Quarles. 

"  To  be  sure;  yet  it  moves  you,  just  the  same," 
taunted  Hazard.  '  You  recognize  it  as  a  piece  of 
the  astounding  drama  of  America,  mixed  of  com 
monplace  and  of  illusion,  of  vulgarity  and  of  dis 
tinction,  of  sordid  practice  and  idealistic  aspira 
tion, — mixed  absurdly,  pitifully,  inextricably. 
The  drama  is  democratic  and,  perhaps,  it  lacks 
high  lights;  but  its  stage  is  a  continent  and  its 
meaning  universal.  It  may  be  compared  to  this 
enormous  lake  of  fresh  water,  scooped  out  of  the 
midst  of  the  prairie.  There  are  no  graceful  tem 
ples  on  its  shores;  no  famous  cities  stud  its  marge; 
poets  have  not  hymned  its  straits  or  sung  in  any  of 
its  isles.  But  it  has  mystery  and  magic,  a  vast 
level  of  shining  water  to  generate  mirage  from 
common  things,  a  tug-boat  puffing  soot,  a  beach 
made  hideous  with  a  hotel.  That's  America." 

The  musician  leaned  across  the  table  to  empha 
size  his  meaning  to  the  stolid  Quarles.  "  I  had 
to  come  West  to  realize  it,  to  feel  America.  The 
West's  a  sea,  an  ocean,  its  swarming  depths  un- 
plumbed,  its  currents  of  soul  uncharted;  and  you, 
Val,  and  your  profit  and  loss  common-sense  may 
be  good  in  the  pork  business  or  for  a  matter  of 
wheat,  but  the  best  you've  got  is  a  tailor's  tape 


3OO 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

when  it  comes  to  spirit,  to  the  human  genius  of  it 
all." 

"  Oh,  hang  your  rhapsodizing !  "  exclaimed 
Quarles.  "  What  I'm  after's  flesh  and  blood. 
What  did  she  do  when  she  got  here?  " 

"  Oh,  a  lot  of  things,  it  seems,  and  got  at  least 
experience,"  elucidated  the  musician.  "  For  in 
stance,  one  winter  she  embarked  with  a  barn-storm 
ing  theatrical  troupe  and  was  left  stranded  in 
Terre  Haute.  She  has  done  'most  everything,  she 
says  herself,  that  wasn't  wicked,  for  a  living.  She 
has  been  ambitious  to  become  an  opera  singer,  to 
write  books,  to  found  a  salon,  and  finally  she 
dropped  into  a  place  as  bookkeeper.  But  she 
couldn't  stand  the  humdrum,  and  she  had  a  chance 
in  the  Pantheon.  Now  she  feels  she  is  at  least 
assured  a  living,  as  she  has  learned  the  brands 
of  cigars  and  knows  how  to  sell  them." 

"  She  seems  to  have  mentioned  about  nearly 
everything,"  observed  Quarles.  "  Did  she  say 
she  had  ever  broken  her  heart?" 

"  She  never  did,"  smiled  Hazard.  "  And  I  do 
not  fancy  she  has  ever  suffered  anything  {>ut  mild 
attacks,  unless  her  attachment  for  Blish  is  serious, 
and  I  doubt  that.  Miss  Vantage  is  diffuse;  I 

201 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

question  whether  she  will  ever  manage  to  focus 
down  to  love." 

"  Humph,  she  needs  a  man  to  compel  her  to 
it,"  grunted  Quarles,  and  lit  a  fresh  cigar.  Puff 
ing  vigorously:  "And  so  you  think  she  is  no 
shrewder  or  less  innocent  than  when  first  she  came 
across  the  lake? — Yet  she  must  Lave  met  tempta 
tion?" 

Hazard  had  not  heard;  his  eyes  were  turned 
away  and  Quarles  followed  the  direction  of  his 
gaze. 

The  door  of  the  particular  private  supper  room 
stood  open,  as  if  wrenched  so  from  within.  In 
side,  under  the  electric  bulb,  appeared  an  over 
turned  chair,  and  by  it  Truesdale  Blish  in  a  ludi 
crous  agony  of  indecision,  a  vinous  flush  suffusing 
his  well-fed  face,  while  off  the  shallow  platform 
upon  which,  behind  a  rail,  the  row  of  rooms  was 
set,  and  down  an  aisle  between  the  tables  filled 
with  drinkers,  fled  the  Duchess  like  a  startled  deer. 
She  reeled  as  she  rushed  and  the  two  could  see 
the  shudder  of  her  lips,  the  large  horror  in  her 
eyes. 

The  drinkers  everywhere  looked  up,  a  few  start 
ing  to  their  feet.  Waiters  grew  alive  to  their  duty  : 
one,  with  a  napkin  across  his  shoulder,  hurried 

202 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

after  the  young  woman;  others  made  to  bar  her 
flight  before  the  whole  garden  was  agape. 

Hazard  sprang  from  his  chair  and  Quarles  rose 
by  his  side.  They  were  directly  across  the  path 
which,  it  chanced,  her  flight  had  chosen. 

"  We  must  help  her,"  said  the  musician. 

"  Wait  here;  it  will  make  less  commotion,"  his 
friend  counselled. 

The  girl  came  swiftly,  a  daze  of  terror  dilat 
ing  her  eyes.  She  stepped  daintily,  surely,  even 
in  her  fright.  And  suddenly  an  expression  crossed 
her  face  like  a  new  light.  She  came  straight  to 
them,  one  hand  extended  as  if  to  grasp  aid. 

"You  here?"  she  gasped,  her  breast  heaving. 
"  O  thank  God !  You're  gentlemen !  "  She  spoke 
more  particularly  to  Hazard,  but  her  appealing 
eyes,  once  they  had  swept  his  companion's  face, 
stayed. — "  I — I  want  to  go  home,"  she  mur 
mured,  and  half  slipped  upon  Quarles's  arm. 

A  waiter  puffed  up.  "  Can't  have  no  scenes 
here, — 'ginst  orders." 

"  We  are  friends  of  the  lady,"  explained  Haz 
ard,  with  dignity. 

"  Don't  make  no  difference,"  the  waiter  pro 
tested.  "  She  must  get  out. — This  place  's  re 
spectable." 

203 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Be  quiet,"  growled  Quarles  across  his  shoul 
der.  "  Go  get  my  carriage  outside  and  be  quick." 
The  waiter,  become  meek  in  a  moment,  trotted  off. 
"  Come  along,  Ned." 

Already  curious  people  were  pushing  on  them. 
But  Quarles  glared  and  they  noticed  his  shoulders. 
He  had  one  arm  about  the  young  woman's  waist 
and  Hazard  had  one  also.  Together  they  passed 
quickly  down  the  garden. 

They  went  through  the  entrance.  "  Nothing, 
the  lady  fainted,  heat  or  something,"  Quarles  mut 
tered  to  its  guardians. — "Is  my  carriage  here?" 

A  brace  of  respectful  menials  stood  at  hand, 
while  they  waited  at  the  curb  for  the  carriage  to 
draw  up.  There  was  some  delay.  Quarles  looked 
down  at  the  half-fainting  creature  on  his  arm 
and  his  hard  mouth  grew  tender.  "  Poor  child," 
he  whispered. 

Hazard  opened  the  carriage  door.  "  Get  in 
yourself,"  Quarles  bade.  "  I'll  hand  her  in  to 
you." 

He  turned  to  give  the  waiters  the  tips  their 
assiduity  had  earned,  before  stepping  in  himself. 
There,  some  three  feet  off,  was  planted  Truesdale 
Blish,  a  sickly  half  smile  struggling  into  his  face. 

204 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  I — I  didn't  know  what  to  do,"  he  said  smug 
ly.  "  Is  she " 

Quarles  swung  on  his  heel,  his  steel-grey  eyes 
like  daggers.  His  blow  caught  Blish  in  the  eye. 

When  the  clerk  picked  himself  up  the  carriage 
was  already  circling  the  next  corner.  "  Hurt  your 
self?  "  asked  a  waiter. 

In  the  rapidly  rolling  carriage  the  Duchess  was 
hysterical.  "  There,  there,"  Quarles  soothed  her 
in  his  deep  voice.  "  Be  a  good  child;  you  needn't 
cry." 

"  Oh,  oh,  oh !  "  moaned  the  girl,  "  how  ever  can 
I  get  over  it! — He  said  he  loved  me,  and  so — I 
let  him  kiss  me  twice. — What  beasts  men  are !  " 

Finally  it  came  to  Hazard  holding  one  of  her 
trembling  hands  and  Quarles  the  other.  "  You 
are  safe  now,  Miss  Vantage,"  the  musician  as 
sured  her.  "  We'll  take  you  home,  we're  your  true 
friends." 

"  I'm  so  glad,  so  glad,"  she  burst  forth,  grate 
fully.  "  I  need  them  so,  I  need  them." 


205 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

CONSEQUENCES. 

SEEN  Blish  this  morning?"  inquired  Peter 
Dubbin  of  clerk  Loye,  who  had  the  Monday 
morning  watch. 

"  Yep,"  was  the  curt  reply.  The  clerk  declined 
on  principle  to  be  civil  to  inferiors;  moreover,  he 
felt  saturnine  thus  early  in  the  day. 

"Which  side  did  ye  see?"  persisted  the  pes 
tiferous  hop. 

"  Side  of  what,  ye  monkey?  "  snarled  the  clerk. 

"  Side  of  his  face,  ye  big  stiff,"  Dubbin  re 
torted.  "  What  did  ye  think  it  was, — side  he 
parts  his  hair  on,  when  he  parts  it  in  the  middle?  " 

Loye  surveyed  the  hop  with  a  prolonged  look 
of  disdain.  ;' What  ye  givin'  us,  sonny?  I  saw 
Blish  this  morning,  yes.  Nothing  uncommon, 
though;  just  stuck  on  himself  the  same  old  way." 

"  Ye've  got  fine  eyesight,  ye  have,"  jeered  the 
hop,  jumping  about  on  his  short  legs  like  a  crow 
that  flaps  and  calls,  caw,  caw.  "  Yer  so  observin' 
ye  ought  to  be  a  fly-cop,  ye  had.  Ye'd  make  a 

206 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

peach,  ye  would,  with  yer  stumps  what  hates  to 
stir  and  yer  eagle  eye.  Gee  !  " 

The  clerk  made  a  poor  attempt  at  appeasement : 
;i  What's  up,  Dubby?" 

;'  Dubby  yer  own  self,  ye  canned  lobster!  " 
the  hop  shrilled.  "  Ye  can't  sejuice  me  with  yer 
marmalade." 

Love  promptly  took  a  "  descent  from  his 
perch."-—"  Excuse  me,  Peter.  You're  a  queer 
cuss,  you  are.  Come,  cough  up  !  What's  doin'  ?  " 

"  That's  better,"  adjudged  Dubbin,  easy  to  pla 
cate  because  so  eager  to  astonish  with  his  news. 
"  Blish's  got  an  eye,  a  bully  eye,  round  as  a  bil 
liard  ball  and  blue  like  'n  Easter  egg. — And  ye  let 
it  get  by  ye !  Say,  ain't  ye  woke  up?  " 

"  Where  did  he  get  it,  Peter,  did  he  bring  it 
in  from  outside?"  Loye,  an  old  woman  when 
it  came  to  gossip,  questioned  vivaciously. 

"  Brung  it  home  with  him  last  night  in  the  dog 
watch,  and  set  the  hop  on  his  floor  a  icin'  it  for 
him, — clapt  on  a  beef-steak,  too,  but  it  was  a  leetle 
lute.  He  give  out  a  steer  'bout  how  he'd  been 
drinkin'  dreft'ul  and  had  bumped  hisself  head-on 
into  a  Wabash  Avenue  Elevated  post.  Huh,  who 
ever  done  it  bunged  his  eye  up  pretty!  " 

207 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Pshaw,"  the  clerk  slighted  the  tale,  "  Blish 
don't  drink  any." 

"  Mebbe  ye  know  what  yer  talkin'  about, 
mebbe  ye  don't,"  scoffed  the  hop. 

An  hour  later,  half  past  ten  o'clock,  perhaps, 
appeared  old  Colonel  Patten  for  the  first  time  that 
morning. 

"Heard  the  news,  Colonel?"  inquired  clerk 
Loye,  maliciously,  keen  to  damage  any  member  of 
the  human  race.  "It  concerns  your  employe,  Mr. 
Truesdale  Blish." 

"  Don't  know  that  I  want  to  know,"  said  Colo 
nel  Patten,  drily,  "  because  if  it  did  him  credit, 
you  wouldn't  want  to  tell  it." 

But  Loye  would  not  be  denied. 

"  Is  that  so?  "  squalled  the  Colonel  in  the  most 
acrid  of  falsettos,  flourishing  his  stick  and  twisting 
his  mustachios  furiously. — "  Is  that  so?  Then 
let  me  inform  you  I'm  tickled  to  death  to  hear 
Blish's  been  out  with  the  boys.  And  as  all  that's 
nobody's  business  more  than  it's  mine,  and  I  con 
sider  it  as  decidedly  none  of  mine,  I  fail  to  under 
stand  what  business  it's  of  yours,  you  large,  cack 
ling  he-hen." 

The  sputtering  haberdasher  turned  upon  his 
heel,  leaving  Loye  to  glower  at  his  back. 

208 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Damned  milliner,"  the  clerk  fumed,  "  it  ain't 
any  wonder  even  his  shirt-clerk  cock-a-doodle- 
doos." 

Colonel  Patten  strode  across  to  the  cigar  stand. 
"  Morning,  Honeybubbles,"  he  saluted  gallantly. 
"  How's  your  dimples?  Ah,  deep  as  ever,  I  see. 
— Hum,  you  aren't  looking  as  fresh  as  a  daisy 
altogether  this  fine  morning,  daughter.  What's 
the  matter,  you  and  Truesdale  Blish  between  you 
been  doing  a  turn  or  two?  I  understand  his  eye's 
likely  to  constitute  a  caution  to  my  customers  this 
morning,  and  you  look,  yourself,  as  if  you'd  been 
sitting  up  too  late  with  your  fellah." 

The  Duchess's  pale  face  flushed.  "  You 
shouldn't  believe  all  you  hear,  Colonel." 

"  I  don't,  but  I  do  all  I  see,"  replied  the  gen 
tleman,  wheeling  abruptly  and  walking  away. 
"  Humph,"  he  concluded,  in  his  own  mind,  "  that 
crack  I  hit  two  birds  with  one  stone.  A  fellow 
can  never  know  what  he's  doing  in  this  world, — 
not  until  next  morning  and  not  always  then.  I 
guess  I'll  just  nudge  Blish,  let  him  know  that  if 
he  wants  game  there's  plenty  running  loose,  but, 
on  my  sinful  soul,  not  Dimples." 

Presently  he  was  sauntering  down  the  Avenue 
on  the  way  to  his  business  in  Jackson  Boulevard, 

200 

14 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

twirling  his  slender  stick  quite  jauntily  and  stif 
fening  his  straight  old  back  on  the  remote  chance 
that  some  lady  might  be  looking  and,  if  looking, 
must  be  admiring. 

Dubbin,  meantime,  proceeded  to  "  get  next " 
the  facts  in  his  usual  intelligent  fashion.  That 
crooked  nose  of  his  with  the  Jewish  arch  and 
the  Irish  bulb  insinuated  itself  into  crannies  with 
the  expedition  of  a  ferret  and  ripped  out  whatever 
was  of  value  with  the  certainty  of  a  talon. 

The  hop  suspected  that  Blish's  black  eye  and 
the  Duchess's  washed-out  appearance  might  some 
how  be  related.  Accordingly,  he  soon  was  sidling 
leisurely  past  the  cigar  stand.  "  Have  a  good 
time  last  night,  did  you,  Duchess?  I  hopes  so.'* 

She  started  guiltily  and  her  lips  tightened.  She 
scanned  Dubbin  :  he  looked  demure,  but  who  could 
tell  what  knowledge  was  contained  in  the  small, 
glazed  eyes?  Her  impulse  was  to  answer  brusque 
ly,  but  she  remembered  greater  powers  than  her 
self  propitiated  the  malice  of  the  resourceful  mite. 
Dubbin's  nose  wriggled  with  omniscience.  "  Huh, 
ye  can't  trow  me  down,  Duchess;  so  don't  try- 
see?  I  know  some  that  seen  ye, — a  high  old  time 
ye  was  havin',  wasn't  ye?  " 

"  I — I   don't  like  your  language,   Peter,"   the 

210 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Duchess  flutteringly  protested.     ;'  What  you  mean 
by  it  I  have  no  idea." 

"  Ain't  included  in  your  vocabulary  of  slang, 
ye  mean,"  grinned  the  hop,  with  pride  in  the 
manipulation  of  his  sentence. 

"  What  do  you  know  about  it,  anyway,  Peter?  " 
Her  desperation  would  not  allow  her  to  keep  still. 

"  Nothin',"  demurred  Dubbin.  "  I'm  wise  guy 
enough  to  keep  my  trap  closed,  I  am."  He  cast  a 
wink  at  her:  "  Mum's  the  word,  Dimples." 

The  impertinence  upset  her  temper.  "  You'd 
better,  Peter,  I  can  tell  you,  or  you'll  have  Mr. 
Quarles  after  you."  She  had  no  sooner  spoken 
than  she  realized  the  indiscretion. 

;i  I'm  wise,"  said  Dubbin,  mollifyingly,  "  ye 
needn't  worry  none  about  me."  Next  moment, 
"  My  dad,"  he  exclaimed,  "  what  an  eye  he's  got, 
— bigger  'n  a  hen's  egg  and  bluer  'n  a  robin's !  " 

"  Well,  he  deserved  it,"  declared  the  Duchess, 
with  the  vigour  of  exasperated  nerves. 

'  Then  he  got  it,  good  and  proper, — all  that 
was  a-comin'  to  him,"  pronounced  the  hop  con 
vincingly. 

'  Yes,  poor  fellow,"  she  relented.  "  I  do  hope 
it  isn't  very  serious. — Is  it,  Peter?  I  hardly  dared 
look  this  morning,  I  felt  so  sorry  for  him."  Then 


211 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

appalled  at  her  own  imprudence :  "  My,  I  didn't 
mean  that !  Oh,  I  am  a  fool ! — I  didn't  dare  to 
look,  I  mean, — because — because  it  must  look  too 
horrid."  She  squeezed  her  eyes  tight  shut. 

The  hop  chuckled.  "  Gee  whilikens,  it's  so  ugly 
it'll  be  a  beauty  for  a  month,  that  eye  will,"  he 
comforted  her  fears. 

"Nobody  knows  about  it,  Peter,  do  they?" 
she  whispered,  in  an  extremity  of  panic.  "  What 
are  all  the  hotel  people  saying?" 

'  Nope,  only  me,"  Dubbin  answered  her  first 
question.  "  I'm  next;  the  rest,  they're  guessin', — 
as  usual." 

His  nose  wriggled,  one  glazed  eye  gleamed,  and 
he  let  his  imagination  go.  He  must  boast;  but  he 
lied  along  the  line  of  truth  and  calculated  upon 
eliciting  more  truth  thereby. — "  I  gets  the  ice  and 
steak  for  him  when  he  rolls  in  in  the  early  hours, 
and  he  ups  and  gives  me  five  dollars — a  bill,  and 
him  on  a  salary — for  to  remember  to  forget  it.  I 
forgets.  And  then,  as  I  helps  him  with  the  towels, 
he  feels  how  I  sympathizes  and  he  tells  me,  heart 
to  heart,  just  how  it  happens, — him  and  Mr. 
Quarles  and  yerself." 

Since  the  hop  knew  all,  the  Duchess  need  pre 
tend  no  longer.  "  Of  course,  I  know  Mr.  Quarles 

212 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

must  have  hit  him,  when  I  didn't  see,"  she  gushed. 
"  I  knew  the  moment  I  caught  sight  of  his  poor 
eye  in  the  lobby  here  this  morning,  and  it's  been 
reproaching  me  every  minute  since.  He  did  de 
serve  it,  that  is  true;  but  I  guess  he's  punished 
enough  to  have  to  carry  that  tell-tale  mark  around 
for  weeks. — Men  must  be  men,  I  suppose,  and, 
if  that's  pretty  bad,  I'm  afraid  they  just  can't  help 
it,  poor  fellows." 

The  hop's  nose  twitched  immoderately. 
"  Here's  where  little  Dubbs  gets  off  at,"  he  re 
flected.  ;'  It'll  wring  the  starch  clean  out  of  that 
shirt-clerk's  bosom,  sure." 

"  Seen  Blish's  eye?  "  So  he  introduced  the  mat 
ter  to  the  attention  of  his  patron. 

"What's  doin'?"  inquired  Casey.  Informed, 
he  remarked :  '  You  know  how  to  get  your  bread 
buttered  thick  on  both  sides,  Dubby.  Here's  an 
other  fiver  to  make  Blish's  fiver  real." 

Then  Casey  retired  into  his  own  mind.  He  sat 
motionless,  except  for  the  oleaginous  movement 
of  his  tongue.  But  his  expression  gradually  grew 
beatific,  like  that  of  the  sleek  house  cat  who  is 
digesting  the  canary. 

The  hop,  who  had  waited  patiently,  at  last  ven- 

213 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

tured:     "  I  brought  ye  the  news, — who's  ye  goin' 
to  dynamite  with  it?" 

Sphinx  Casey  smiled  inscrutably.  "  Don't  ye 
wish  I  was  as  easy  gettin'  next  as  the  others  are, 
me  boy? — Now  be  off  with  ye,  I've  got  to 
scheme." 


214 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

FURTHER  CONSEQUENCES. 

THE  grand  Alonzo  and  his  stately  daughter 
were  seated  in  one  room,  a  coincidence  of 
rare  occurrence  in  the  Farson  menage. 

Miss  Farson  lowered  her  book  to  say: 
"  Father,  you  are  aware  I  have  always  insisted 
Mr.  Quarles  lacked  somehow  the  last  refinement." 

Mr.  Farson,  if  unable  to  recall  the  fact,  had  due 
respect  for  his  daughter's  dogmatic  mind.  '  Yes, 
yes,  my  dear,  you  are  remarkably  accurate  in  your 
observations." 

She  proceeded:  "  Mr.  Quarles  comes  of  virile 
stock,  does  he  not,  the  kind  that  must  be  a  little 
coarse  to  be  strong?" 

"  Eminently  true,"  confirmed  Mr.  Farson. 
"  Quarles's  father,  Henry  M.,  was  a  Napoleon  in 
his  line  twenty  years  before  he  went  broke  in 
wheat." 

'  The  father  plunged  in  wheat  and  the  son  has 
traded  in  cattle."  A  fine  aversion  lifted  her  brows. 
"  In  truth,  he  shows  at  times  the  breeding  of  the 
Stockyards, — it  will  crop  out." 

215 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  I  suppose  so,"  admitted  Alonzo  A.,  reluc 
tantly.  "  But  I  do  not  think  Val  Quarles  a  bad 
sort  of  a  young  man.  When  he  came  out  of  col 
lege  and  had  to  go  straight  to  work,  he  pitched 
right  in,  they  say,  at  the  first  thing  he  could  get 
and  he  has  done  famously,  let  me  tell  you  that." 

"A  self-made  man!"  exclaimed  Miss  Parson. 
"  I  fairly  abhor  the  description.  I'd  almost  rather 
a  man  should  be  a  fool."  She  glanced  quickly  at 
her  indulgent  parent,  but  his  egoistic  armour-plate 
was  thick. — "  The  men  say,  father,  he  can  esti 
mate  how  many  pounds  of  meat  a  live  steer  will 
cut  up  into,  merely  by  looking  at  it. — Ugh,  how 
detestable !  " 

"  But,  daughter,"  demurred  the  excellent  Alon 
zo,  mildly,  "  though  you  might  not  think  it.  it 
is  necessary  to  have  money,  and  if  a  young  man 
does  not  inherit  money,  he  must  acquire  it  for 
himself,  you  know." 

'  Then  I'm  thankful  we  inherit,"  declared  Miss 
Farson,  fervently.  "  For  there  is  one  thing  you 
are,  father,  whatever  else  you're  not, — you  are  re 
fined." 

Alonzo  A.  patted  himself  on  the  back,  so  to 
speak.  '  That's  easily  accounted  for,"  he  ex 
plained,  "  it  scarcely  could  be  otherwise.  There's 

216 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

clergy  in  our  ancestry,  a  bishop,  if  I  remember, 
among  the  rest."  The  bishop  was  a  Methodist 
exhorter,  as  Mr.  Farson  was  reluctantly  aware; 
his  daughter's  children,  undoubtedly,  would  pride 
themselves  upon  the  Episcopalian  descent. 

This  bit  of  conversation  led  Mr.  Farson  later 
in  the  day  to  remark  to  Casey:  "  I  hear  Quarles 
is  going  to  the  eternal  bow-wowrs  some  wray  or 
other.  Heard  anything  about  it,  Casey?" 

"  Nothin'  exact,  sir,"  answered  Casey.  "  Ex 
cept  that  he  makes  money  fly,  he  does.  They  say 
he  can  afford  to." 

"  Ah,  lives  high,  does  he,  Casey?  " 

"  Sure.  He  always  keeps  steam  up,  sir.  He's 
the  strenuous  sort,  just  as  much  in  his  fun  as  in 
his  business." 

"  That  sort  of  pace  requires  a  lot  of  money  to 
keep  it  going,  Casey." 

"  Well,  he  slings  it  'round,  sir,  like  a  carriage 
wheel  slings  mud.  Either  he's  dead  game,  he  is, 
or  his  nerve  'ud  bust  a  bank." 

"  Casey,  I'll  make  you  a  little  confidence,  a 
thing  I  rarely  do,  let  me  tell  you  that.  Quarles 
has  been  after  me  for  a  long  time  now,  to  get  me 
into  a  new  consolidation  he's  effecting.  It  tempts 
me,  Casey,  with  its  sheer  stupendousness, — you 

217 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

know  how  one  of  those  titanic  prodigies  appeals  to 
my  intellectuality.  But  I'm  as  cautious  as  I  am  dar 
ing,  Casey;  it's  the  paradox  of  the  Napoleonic 
temperament. — What  is  that  maxim  to  express  my 
policy,  I  taught  you,  Casey?  " 

"  Your  business,  sir,  considerin'  the  vastness  of 
your  properties,  is  to  conserve,  sir,  not  to  spread 
out,"  Casey  glibly  answered. 

"  Right,  Casey,  right.  We'll  develop  a  safe 
business  man  out  of  you  yet. — Well,  Quarles  can 
not  induce  us  to  forego  a  fundamental  pillar  of 
our  policy  on  his  mere  say-so,  can  he,  Casey?" 
The  grand  Alonzo  rolled  forth  the  superb  procla 
mation. 

"  He  must  show  you  first,  sir." 

''  He  must,  indeed,  Casey." 

The  card  Mr.  Quarles  sent  up  to  the  Farson 
apartment  that  evening  was  returned  with  the 
statement  "  Not  in."  The  bellboy's  smile,  how 
ever,  informed  Quarles  of  the  conventional  char 
acter  of  the  answer.  He  strolled  about  in  some 
thing  of  a  dudgeon  for  a  while;  he  looked  for 
Hazard  in  the  gallery,  but  the  musician  was  not 
there;  and  finally  he  retired  to  the  bar-room  to 
console  himself  with  a  brandy  and  soda. 

Passing  by  the  elevators  a  half  hour  later,  whom 

218 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

should  he  encounter  but  Alonzo  A.  himself.  That 
personage  uplifted  his  goatee  and  extended  two 
formal  fingers,  as  the  younger  man  stepped  up  to 
him. 

"  Ah,  we  received  your  card  some  time  ago, 
Mr.  Quarles,"  remarked  the  Pantheon-builder, 
superciliously.  "  But  my  daughter's  mind  was 
averse  to  breaking  up  the  harmony  of  a  little  mu- 
sicale  she  was  enjoying  with  your  friend,  Mr. 
Hazard, — of  Massachusetts,  is  it  not?  In  con 
sequence,  with  your  usual  perspicuous  good  sense 
you  will  understand  the  situation  and  excuse  us 
for  the  rest  of  the  evening."  He  added,  more 
familiarly  apologetic:  "You  know  how  Gen  is 
when  she's  set  on  a  thing." 

Quarles  mustered  the  best  grace  he  could. 
"  We  both,  I  think,  have  bowed  to  her  caprices 
before  this,  Mr.  Parson.  But  there  is  a  matter  I 
should  like  to  speak  to  you  about,  if  you  will 
give  me  five  minutes  of  your  attention."  Almost 
any  moment,  in  Chicago,  is  deemed  opportune  for 
business. 

"  No  need,  no  need,  Quarles,  let  me  tell  you 
that,"  Mr.  Farson  hastened  to  declare.  "  I  can 
say  now,  definitively,  I  will  not  go  into  what  you 
propose,  I  cannot  take  the  stock  you  offer  me. 

219 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

My  policy  looks  not  towards  expansion,  but 
towards  conservation.  I  am  content  with  my 
achievements;  unlike  Alexander,  I  am  not  sigh 
ing  for  new  worlds  to  conquer."  A  magnificent 
wave  of  the  hand  dismissed  the  matter. 

Quarles  was  surprised.  He  supposed  the  busi 
ness  proposition  had  been  practically  accepted  and 
he  had  been  making  plans  upon  that  assumption. 
Consideration  of  his  personal  relations  with  the 
Parsons  passed  in  a  moment  from  his  mind.  This 
latest  determination  on  Mr.  Parson's  part  was 
serious;  it  must  be  met. 

The  strength  of  his  chin  emerged  and  his  clear 
grey  eye  fixed  Alonzo,  as  a  pin  sticks  a  fluttering 
butterfly  to  a  wall.  "  It's  a  sound  business  prop 
osition  you're  refusing,  Mr.  Parson.  I  can  dem 
onstrate  it.  The  plan  is  a  rational  consolidation, 
dictated  by  conditions,  not  by  theory  or  specula 
tion.  You  will  make  good  money  out  of  it,  if 
you  will  consent  to  stay  inside." 

"  Speculation !  "  Mr.  Parson  grasped  at  the 
word.  ''  I  want  nothing  to  do  with  speculation. 
Conservation's  the  sheet-anchor  of  my  policy,  let 
me  tell  you  that." 

'  You  make  a  mistake,"  said  Quarles,  quietly, 
"  if  you  allow  personal  or  private  matters  tc  sway 

220 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

your  judgment  for  or  against  your  interests,  Mr. 
Farson." 

;'  I  am,  let  me  tell  you,  competent  to  pronounce 
upon  that  point,"  rejoined  the  grand  Alonzo, 
drawing  himself  up.  "  I  have  already  achieved 
sufficiently,  and  upon  a  scale  too  amply  stupen 
dous,  to  require  the  advice  of  a  young  man,  whose 
career,  brilliantly  though  it  promises,  is  still  in 
the  state  of  chrysalis."  He  pulled  his  indignant 
nose  energetically  and  stalked  into  a  waiting  ele 
vator,  which  shot  him  upward  like  a  god. 

Quarks  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  turned 
into  the  rotunda.  To  his  mind  the  issue  simply 
was  postponed. 

When  Miss  Farson  saw  him  an  hour  later,  he 
was  standing  at  the  corner  of  the  cigar  stand,  one 
elbow  on  the  glass.  He  was  smoking  leisurely,  an 
aspect  almost  of  content  in  his  grim  countenance. 

He  had  been  considering  the  Duchess  while  she 
served  her  customers.  He  had  been  dreaming, 
practical  realist  though  he  was. — What  dear  re 
ward  might  not  the  man  earn  who  should  auda 
ciously  pluck  this  misplaced  creature  from  the 
midst  of  compromise?  For  who  could  say,  if 
softly  shielded,  into  what  delicate  bloom  her  frail, 

221 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

anaemic  beauty  might  not  be  betrayed?  What  soft 
colouring  her  pale  distinction  might  attain ;  what — 

He  checked  himself.  Well,  if  that  was  dream 
ing,  there  was  one  thing  sure:  How  pleasant 
she  would  be  to  live  with  and  how  genial  the  air 
of  that  house  in  which  her  liberal  self  was  mistress. 

Miss  Farson  noticed  instantly  the  change  in 
his  face  and  she  knew  well  to  what  the  softening 
might  be  ascribed.  She  resented  the  influence. 

She  had  come  into  the  lobby,  attended  by  Haz 
ard,  to  find  if  the  cigar  stand  included  among 
the  music  sheets  for  sale  the  score  of  a  popular 
light  opera  song.  She  was  inquiring  of  the 
Duchess  and  saying  to  Hazard  in  one  breath : 
'  Yes,  it  goes  so  and  so,  don't  you  recall?  " 

Quarles  turned  away.  He  was  not  aware  that 
she  had  detected  him  and  he  desired  to  avoid  the 
embarrassment  of  recognition.  Besides,  he  pre 
ferred  that  Hazard  should  not  find  him  hovering 
in  the  vicinage  of  the  cigar-girl. 

He  moved  off  accordingly.  But  simultaneously 
there  visited  Miss  Farson  involuntary  regrets. 
Across  her  shoulder,  while  her  unsuspecting  part 
ner  perused  the  score,  she  followed  after  the  re 
tiring  Quarles  with  wistful  eyes. 

Yes,  she  was  conscious  she  had  what  she  want- 

222 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

ed.  She  had  dismissed  her  old  lover  as  she  had 
wished  to  do,  because  she  loved  his  friend.  And 
she  was  gaining,  or  else  had  secured,  the  love  that 
she  desired.  Things  were  even  as  she  intended 
them  to  be;  nevertheless,  she  had  never  been  so 
sensible  of  the  value  of  the  love  from  which  she 
had  parted,  as  at  this  moment  of  the  seeming  con 
summation  of  her  plans.  In  truth,  what  a  man 
Quarles  was,  how  stalwart,  how  constant,  and 
what  weight  he  had  in  the  fighting  line ! 

No,  even  now  she  did  not  want  him  in  the  sense 
that  she  must  give  herself  to  him  in  order  to  re 
tain  him, — she  was  quite  clear  in  her  election  to 
give  herself  to  another  man.  But  she  had  pos 
sessed  a  long  proprietorship  in  Quarles;  he  had 
been  almost  necessary  to  her,  and  sharply  she  re 
sented  it  that  any  other  woman  should  acquire  in 
him  so  much  as  a  future  expectation. 

The  complicated  process  of  this  emotion  occu 
pied  but  a  quarter  of  a  minute  and  Miss  Farson 
turned  again  to  the  subject  of  the  music. 

Unluckily  the  Duchess,  encouraged  by  her  pre 
vious  experience  with  the  heiress,  dared  to  smile 
her  admiration;  but  this  time  the  beauty  crushed 
the  presumption  with  a  supercilious  stare.  The 

223 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Duchess,  unprepared  for  so  cruel  a  rebuff,  was 
greatly  disconcerted. 

The  observant  musician  at  once  essayed  to  re 
dress  the  wrong;  it  was  in  accordance  with  his 
practice.  He  inquired  pointedly  of  the  cigar-girl 
her  opinion  of  the  music,  while  his  whole  manner 
disclaimed  partnership  in  his  companion's  offense : 
which  independent  conduct  did  not  commend  itself 
to  the  heiress's  proud  temper. 

She  swept  back  across  the  lobby  in  most  royal 
fashion,  eyes  disdainful,  nostrils  playing  wrathful- 
ly,  lovely  chin  tilted  up  so  far  as  seemingly  to  en 
danger  its  owner's  equilibrium.  Hazard  trotted 
dutifully  in  her  wake,  the  purchased  music  roll 
in  his  hand,  a  smile  of  amused  exasperation  length 
ening  his  lip. 

As  Miss  Parson  in  her  progress  swept  by 
Quarles,  her  blank  look  included  him  without  rec 
ognition.  Four  steps  farther  on,  however,  she  af 
fected  to  perceive  Truesdale  Blish,  on  whom,  out 
of  sheer  perversity,  she  bestowed  a  nod  and  smile. 

The  clerk,  thrilling  gratefully  for  the  conde 
scension, — he  had  been  crawling  until  her  glance 
picked  him  up, — gazed  with  ostentatious  rapture 
after  the  divinity,  and  then,  noticing  Quarles 

224 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

nearby,  surveyed  with  withering  contempt  the  man 
she  had  ignored. 

"  Damned  puppy,"  swore  Quarks  behind  his 
teeth,  "  he's  heard  I  am  knocked  out  and  he 
gloats  over  it.  He  thinks  he  stings  me,  and,  by 
God,  he  does." 

Notwithstanding  these  affronts,  Quarles  was 
smiling  softly  to  himself  when  he  closed  his  eyes 
in  bed  that  night.  The  delicious  frailty  of  one 
poor  girl,  had  it  taken  his  fancy  or  just  touched 
his  heart? 


15  225 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

ONE  WOMAN  HATES  ANOTHER. 

MISS    PARSON    was   unaccustomed    to    re 
strain  herself;   indeed,  if  a  matter  did  not 
please  her,  she  usually  complained  aloud. 
On  reaching  the  apartment  she  immediately  con 
fronted  Hazard  with  her  displeasure. 

'  You  saw  fit  downstairs  to  rectify  my  manner 
towards  the  distinguished  saleslady  who  deals  in 
tobacco.  When  you  are  in  my  company  and  I 
choose  to  rebuke  impertinence  as  it  deserves,  I  will 
be  obliged  if  you  will  refrain  from  any  manifest 
ation  of  your  dissent." 

Hazard  bowed.  "  I  apologize,"  he  said,  "  I 
stand  rebuked."  Was  his  meek  acceptance  satir 
ical,  she  wondered. — "  But  if  you  will  pardon 
me,"  he  added,  "  I  doubt  if  she  understood  she 
was  impertinent." 

Miss  Parson  flashed :  "  I  do  not  wish  to  be 
corrected,  if  you  please.  I  am  quite  able  to  form 
a  judgment  for  myself." 

The  musician  bit  his  lip.  He  wished  for  an 
instant  she  were  a  man  so  that  he  might  say  what 

226 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

he  thought  of  her  temper.  Moreover,  he  resented 
the  injustice  she  put  upon  the  Duchess. 

Miss  Parson  must  have  divined  something  of 
his  feeling.  "  Oh,"  she  taunted,  "  so  you  too  are 
subject  to  the  fascination  of  that  grisette." 

Hazard's  fine  eyes  flamed.  "Fascination?" 
He  bowed  ironically.  "  Having  so  much  of  it 
yourself,  you  can  detect  it  instantly  in  others,  I 
suppose." 

"  Oh  then,  you  do  admit  her  influence,"  she  cried 
mockingly.  "  All  you  men  feel  it, — Val  Quarles 
and  that  Mr.  Blish,  too.  She's  quite  a  general 
scourge,  it  seems." 

Hazard's  disdainful  lip  curled.  "  You've  re 
marked  the,  latter  gentleman's  eye,  no  doubt." 
His  tone  was  acid. 

'  You  need  not  tell  me  anything  of  that  dis 
reputable  affair,"  she  forbade,  icily. 

"  I — I  did  not  intend  to,"  he  retorted.  "  Par 
ticularly  as  you  seem  already  sufficiently  informed." 

She  fumed:  "How  such  a  common  creature 
can  cause  gentlemen  to  misbehave  among  them 
selves,  I  do  not  understand." 

"  Excuse  me,  there  was  no  trouble  between  gen 
tlemen.  You  have  been  misled."  His  tone  was 
exasperatingly  dry. 

227 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Stop,  Mr.  Hazard,  I  refuse  to  hear  more!  " 
Her  gesture  was  indignant. 

He  smiled  his  pity.  "  Pardon  me,  I  did  not 
mean  to  tell  you  more,  except  that  as  I  was  there 
myself,  I  can  assure  you  that  what  you  have  heard 
is  false." 

"  But — I — I  had  not  heard  that  you  were 
there,"  she  gasped  painfully.  "  I  thought  it  was 
between  Mr.  Quarles  and  that — that  Blish." 

He  had  no  mercy.  "  It  was.  But  I  saw  every 
thing,  Miss  Farson,  and  I  give  you  my  word  Mr. 
Quarles  acted  only  the  part  of  a  gentleman,  while 
nothing  occurred  that  can  reflect  in  the  least  upon 
the  lady." 

He  waited  for  her  to  accept  his  statement.  In 
stead,  in  her  face  suspicion  broadened  into  incre 
dulity  frank  enough. 

The  word  of  a  gentleman, — what  experience 
had  she  of  it?  Experience — the  experience  of  an 
heiress  in  a  money-worshipping  society — had 
taught  her  rather  to  trust  to  her  own  keen  wits 
as  pitted  against  wits  as  keen  that  essayed  to 
cajole,  to  flatter,  to  circumvent,  the  stake  being 
her  fortune  and,  incidentally,  her  beauty.  Doubt 
less  she  had  been  furnished  some  excuse  for  pre- 
228 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

f&rring  her  own  conclusions  to  a  man's  word  by 
much.  Most  of  us  do  in  this  America. 

Such  a  consideration  could  not  occur  to  Haz 
ard.  By  the  recent  standards  he  was  old-fash 
ioned;  he  entertained  the  obsolete  prejudice 
against  having  his  word  doubted.  He  froze, — 
that  was  his  response  to  her  suspicion. 

Miss  Farson  instantly  grew  fearful.  "  Oh,  let 
us  drop  it,  Mr.  Hazard,"  she  proposed,  with  an 
affectation  of  careless  levity.  She  turned  to  the 
piano  and  struck  a  chord.  "  So  it  goes — oh,  I 
am  afraid  it's  been  a  nasty  bit  of  temper  on  my 
part!  Listen  to  this,  is  it  not  charming? — You 
will  forgive  me  and  forget  it? — How  one's  feet 
go  pit-a-pat  to  the  music  of  these  notes !  " 

Her  hands  crashed  down  upon  the  keys.  De 
spair  so  acute  had  seized  her  that  she  could  formu 
late  no  device  short  of  surrender.  She  half  raised 
her  head,  lifting  appealing  eyes  to  him, — even  her 
yielding  waist,  her  rounded  hips,  pled  eloquently. 
There  was  but  one  adequate  response,  to  take  her 
in  his  arms. 

A  moment  passed,  two  moments — she  hung  in 
suspense.  Then  slowly,  swiftly,  a  dark  flush 
mounted  from  her  throat,  suffused  her  face  in 

229 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

waves  of  deep  and  deeper  stain.   Pride  first  helped 
recovery,  then  rage. 

She  faced  the  musician  with  bravado.  "  I'll  ask 
Mr.  Blish  about  it,"  she  announced,  in  a  thin 
tone.  "  He  alone  of  you  three  seems  to  have 
kept  his  head,  and  doubtless,  he  at  least  can  be 
under  no  illusions  as  to  what  your  cigar-girl  is." 

"  Miss  Parson,  you  can't  know  what  you  are 
saying,"  burst  out  Hazard,  a  sort  of  horror  in 
his  voice. 

;'  I  do  exactly."     She  measured  the  reply. 

His  temper  went.  Righteous  indignations  came 
fluently  to  him  by  right  of  race.  "  Then,  Miss 
Farson,  I  can  tell  you,  to  correct  your  unjust  and 
slanderous  suspicions  concerning  that  poor  girl, 
you  had  better  ask  your  father.  He  has  a  high 
enough  opinion  of  Miss  Vantage." 

She  flinched  perceptibly,  her  eyes  searching  his 
for  confirmation,  and,  involuntarily,  his  answered 
the  question  her  own  put. 

Miss  Farson  did  not  doubt;  for  years  she  had 
been  expecting  the  outbreak  of  some  such  fond 
folly  on  her  father's  part,  philosophically  aware 
that  each  year  added  to  his  age  increased  the 
probability  of  infatuation. 

She  took  it  hardly.     And  Hazard  pitied, — his 

230 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

pity  was  facile, — although  his  Puritan  adjudging 
faculty  declared  she  had  brought  the  punishment 
upon  herself.  Prompt  retaliation  was  guaranteed 
by  moral  law. 

He  pushed  a  chair  behind  her  with  quick  kind 
ness.  "Sit  down,  do;  you  will  feel  better.  I 
am  very  sorry." 

Weak  though  she  was,  she  held  by  her  scorn. 
"  You  needn't  be,"  she  said.  "  It's  a  judgment 
on  me,  no  doubt, — that  is  the  way  you  think." 

Her  perception  embarrassed  Hazard.  "  Oh, 
no,"  he  murmured,  "  I  am  not  so  utterly  pre 
sumptuous." 

She  answered  wearily:  "  Stand  by  your  guns, 
at  least!  For  my  part  I  take  my  medicine,  as 
you  men  say."  Visibly  under  whip  and  spur 
she  pulled  herself  together,  veracious  enough  at 
any  rate  to  have  small  patience  on  her  own  ac 
count. 

'  We  are  a  funny  lot,  the  Farson  family,  I 
suppose,"  she  smiled  bitterly. — She  rose  to  her 
feet.  "  And  now  you  have  seen  quite  enough  of 
us  for  one  day,  I  fancy,  Mr.  Hazard." 

The  dignity  so  suddenly  assumed,  the  dignity 
of  that  pride  to  which  nothing  remains,  since  noth 
ing  is  left  to  conceal,  abashed  the  musician.  It 

231 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

was  the  transformation  of  a  moment;  he  had  been 
pitying  her  from  his  height;  lo,  now  he  was  slink 
ing  from  her  presence,  trailing  the  standard  of 
his  conscious  rectitude. 

And,  could  he  upon  his  departure  have  re 
turned  at  once  to  the  room,  he  might  have  learned 
still  more  about  the  insufficiency  of  his  most  re 
spectable  judgment  upon  Genevra  Parson;  he 
might  have  recognized  some  portion  of  the  powers 
for  good  and  evil,  for  devotion  and  perversity, 
that  were  lodged  in  her  fair  tenement. 

She  sank  upon  the  floor,  wide-eyed,  staring,  her 
features  convulsed,  her  mind  shaken  with  a  horror 
of  herself,  with  a  hatred  of  the  flesh  she  was,  a 
contempt  for  the  blood  in  her  own  veins. 

Storms  burst  in  her  soul.  Disgust  of  herself, 
a  fierce  repudiation  of  the  sources  from  which 
she  drew  life,  a  furious  resentment  against  the 
one  incontrovertible  destiny, — the  passion  of  it  all 
tore  at  her  breast  and  seared  her  lips.  The  funda 
mental  hatred,  which,  seldom  or  never  loosed, 
sleeps  in  every  heart,  of  the  child  against  the 
parent,  of  fate's  victim  against  fate,  stirred  ami 
rose  and  howled  aloud. 

It  was  not  beautiful,  as  some  stormy  passions 

232 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

are.  Even  she  was  conscious  it  was  nigh  despic 
able.  But  it  would  not  be  controlled. — Her  father 
— oh,  the  loathing !  All  that  as  derived  from  him 
she  had  smothered  in  herself;  all  that  he  had 
flaunted  obstreperously  in  the  face  of  the  young 
man  she  loved, — the  sum  of  tastelessness,  of  ab 
surdity,  of  lack  of  reticence  that  her  father  was, — 
poignantly  afflicted  her  like  the  exposure  of  her 
own  shame. 

She  wrapped  her  arms  about  her  soft  throat 
chokingly;  she  could  have  wished  the  arms  a  cord. 
For,  like  a  ghastly  revelation  under  lightning,  she 
realized  that  it  had  been  her  father's  part  in  her 
which  had  induced  the  man  she  loved  to  ignore  the 
confession  in  her  eyes,  which  had  engendered  re 
pulsion  between  them  and  established  alienation. 
— Would  she  ever  cease  to  freeze  and  burn  with 
the  sickening  memory  of  the  circumspection  he 
had  exercised? 

Oh,  gladly  would  she  strip  herself  of  her  beauty, 
part  with  her  eyes,  her  hair,  her  coral  lips,  her 
glorious  shoulders,  could  their  riddance  disengage 
her  from  inheritance,  render  her  no  longer  of  the 
flesh  and  blood  she  was,  the  daughter  of  her 
father's  temperament;  of  his  persistent  egotism, 
his  grotesque  ideality,  his  volubility! 

233 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Of  course  she  subsided; — that  is  the  issue  of 
all  fundamental  revolts,  which  are  vain,  and  hence, 
in  essence,  ludicrous.  She  was  left  inert,  uninter 
ested,  as  cold  as  a  burnt-out  star,  but  a  single 
gnawing  rancour  remaining  at  the  centre  of  her 
being.  And  that  was  a  dull  hate. 


234 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

IN    WHICH    TWO    AND    TWO    OF    HAZARD'S    LOGIC 
FAILS  TO  MAKE  FOUR. 

THE  orchestra  in  the  gallery  continued,  night 
by  night,  to  tickle  the  ears  of  the  spenders 
of  Chicago  and  of  the  rich  of  the  West, 
who  throng  the  Pantheon,  eating,  drinking,  and 
parading  their  importances  through  the  vast  rooms 
and  lofty  corridors. 

The  musician  from  his  perch  reviewed  the 
show,  as  he  had  a  hundred  times  before.  But 
he  was  not  so  much  amused  as  moved  to  be  satir 
ical.  Below  him  passed  the  vain  procession, — men 
with  good  dinners  stored  beneath  their  swelling 
shirt  fronts, — women  matching  their  display 
against  that  of  other  unknown  ladies  from  other 
unknown  towns. 

Hazard  knew  their  type,  their  temper  and  their 
thought.  Every  man  carried  about  a  consciousness 
of  his  bank  account;  each  was  ready  to  bow  to 
an  account  exceeding  his  own;  each  was  eager  to 
manifest  contempt  for  one  smaller  or  for  none  at 
all.  The  women  might  as  well  have  been  plac- 

235 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

arded  as  Mrs.  Country-banker  from  Podunk,  or 
Mrs.  Millionaire-manufacturer  in  Chicago,  or 
Mrs.  Real-Estate-Within-The-Loop.  Each  was 
concerned  whether  her  especial  brand  of  hauteur 
looked  the  genuine  article  imported  from  the  East, 
and  each  was  sedulous  about  greeting  Mrs.  A. 
effusively,  Mrs.  B.  cordially,  Mrs.  C.  with  reserva 
tion,  Mrs.  D.  with  a  chill,  and  former  intimate 
friend,  Mrs.  E.,  not  at  all.  As  one,  not  the  least 
of  them,  once  remarked  to  another  (the  saying  has 
become  a  classic  in  Chicago)  :  "  Just  to  think  if 
we  lost  our  money,  how  we'd  have  to  know  all 
over  again  the  people  that  we  used  to  know." 

Or,  if  tiring  of  the  crowd  in  general,  Hazard 
should  pick  out  the  individuals  he  knew,  he  was 
sure  of  getting  much  the  same  effect. 

There,  floating  forth  from  dinner,  like  a  bird 
of  paradise  enamoured  of  its  gorgeousness,  walked 
the  beautiful  Miss  Farson.  There,  too,  strutted 
that  pompous  turkey-cock,  the  preposterous  Alonzo 
Alexander  Farson.  There  posed  the  immaculate 
Colonel  Patten,  twisting  his  military  mustachios 
and  waiting  for  a  favouring  word  from  some  one 
of  the  social  gods.  There  sauntered  Truesdale 
Blish,  the  Chesterfield  of  clerks,  the  Boswell  of  so 
ciety,  a  living  encyclopaedia  of  its  genealogies,  its 

236 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

scandals  and  its  fads.  There  softly  slipped  across 
the  scene  the  astute  Casey,  exponent  of  the  provi 
dent  faculty  of  his  race  when  admitted  to  the  op 
portunities  of  America.  And  there  in  the  mid-most 
crush  wormed  Dubbin,  the  "  bell-hop,"  in  and  out, 
his  nose  twitching,  his  glazed  eyes  alert,  his  fingers 
feeling  in  his  pocket  the  coin  he  had  extracted  by 
flatteries  and  the  servile  arts. 

And,  encircled  thus  by  show  and  pretense,  by 
meanness  and  by  egotism,  by  avaricious  creatures 
each  ready  to  reduce  the  general  sum  of  human 
happiness  to  feed  even  for  a  day  his  favourite 
passion, — encircled  thus,  but  contrasted  with  them, 
existed  the  contemned  seller  of  cigars.  She  was 
wretched,  Hazard  saw,  trembling,  sensitive,  un 
nerved.  She  felt  the  antipathy  of  the  world  that 
night,  its  hardness,  its  rapacity.  She  shrank,  recog 
nizing,  probably,  with  an  intense  perception,  its 
eagerness  to  devour  her  youth,  to  banquet  on  her 
freshness,  understanding  vaguely  the  quantity  of 
evil  it  contained,  and  how  even  good  men  and 
women,  measured  by  respectability,  looked  askance 
at  the  penniless  and  defenseless  and  languidly  sur 
mised  that  such  were  getting  their  deserts. 

So  Hazard  fancied  she  must  feel,  and  so,  per 
haps,  to  a  degree  she  did.  At  any  rate,  what  she 

237 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

seemed  to  him  was  real  enough  and  real  as  well 
the  sentiments  that  seeming  served  to  evoke.  Out 
of  all  the  pleasure-seeking  multitude  hers  appeared 
to  him  the  one  pure  and  worthy  soul,  and  des 
tined,  therefore,  to  be  desecrated.  The  probabil 
ity  made  him  boil;  for,  despite  his  sophistication, 
he  was  a  very  youthful  Don  Quixote  still, — the 
evils  that  always  have  been  in  the  world,  that  al 
ways  will  be,  were  exactly  those  that  he  burned 
fiercely  to  eliminate. 

In  the  interval  between  the  halves  of  the  mu 
sical  programme  he  descended  from  the  gallery 
and  crossed  the  lobby  floor.  His  face  wore  an 
uplifted  look,  his  eyes  burned  zealously. 

'What,  Prince  Beautiful,  you  here?"  she  ex 
claimed.  "  It  is  a  relief  after  all  this  swarm  to 
night." 

Fearing  lest  his  impulse  slacken,  he  hastened  to 
declare  his  purpose:  "  I  want  to  take  you  out  of 
this;  I  want  you  to  marry  me." 

She  gazed  at  him  in  amazement.  Then  with 
sisterly  fondness  she  patted  his  fingers,  locked 
nervously  upon  the  inner  edge  of  her  counter. 
"  Silly,  we  should  make  a  very  foolish  pair,"  she 
smiled. 

But  like  any  man  put  off,  he  urged:  "Will 
238 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

you?  I  can't  bear  to  see  you  here,  to  feel  you're 
unprotected.  You  must  be  taken  care  of;  you'll 
have  to  marry  me." 

She  eyed  him  humourously.  "  Why,  Mr.  Haz 
ard,  I  know  I  am  an  awful  goose,  but  being  geese 
together  wouldn't  mend  matters  much." 

He  felt  chagrined,  not  so  much  on  account  of 
the  refusal,  although  he  had  his  portion  of  male 
vanity,  as  by  the  unsuspected  evidence  of  sense  in 
the  Duchess,  or  was  it  prudent  calculation? 

She  would  soften  the  blow  for  him.  "  Prince 
Beautiful,"  she  cooed,  "  you  are  quite  mistaken. 
You  don't  love  me  a  little  bit,  you  are  only  sorry 
for  me,  and  that  is  very  generous,  very  sweet  in 
you,  indeed." 

He  protested,  but  somehow  he  did  not  so  much 
as  convince  himself. 

"  Ah,  trust  a  woman's  heart,"  she  pleaded.  "  I 
know — I  know.  You  don't  love  me  one  speck 
more,  Prince  Beautiful,  than  I  love  you.  You 
are  unselfish  and — and  compassionate  and  kind, 
and  I  will  never  forget  it  of  you,  not  to  my  last 
day." 

Thus  she  who  was  so  slow  to  believe  in  evil, 
even  though  it  popped  its  ugly  head  into  her  face, 
was  not  dull  when  it  came  to  recognizing  good. 

239 


Duchess  of   Few  Clothes 

Sincerity  she  knew,  and  how  to  distinguish  love 
from  charity. 

"  Prince  Beautiful,"  she  asserted  with  one  of  her 
gleaming  smiles,  "  I  know  whom  you  are  to  marry. 
You  and  she  will  make  a  stately  couple.  Oh,  I 
can  see. — It's  one  of  my  cherished  dreams." 

'  What,  you  want  me  to,  after  she's  been  as 
snippy  as  she  has?  "  he  exclaimed. 

"  That's  a  mighty  little  thing,"  the  Duchess 
made  reply.  "If  I  don't  mind  her  showing  me 
my  place,  you  shouldn't,  should  you  ?  " 

"  No,  I  suppose  not,"  admitted  Hazard,  "  ex 
cept  that  while  you  forget  her  snippiness,  I, 
living  with  it  day  after  day,  would  get  reminded 
right  along." 

He  was  much  better  satisfied  with  himself  as 
he  fiddled  through  the  second  part  of  the  evening's 
programme.  In  the  first  place  he  was  warmed  by 
the  gratitude  he  felt  towards  the  Duchess  for  not 
immediately  snapping  him  up.  In  the  second,  he 
had  earned  his  own  approval,  shown  that  he  was 
not  unwilling  to  take  upon  himself  responsibility, 
although  it  must  be  confessed  that  he  was  distinct 
ly  relieved  by  responsibility's  failure  to  accept  him 
at  his  word. 

He  left  the  hotel  after  the  performance,  vowing 

240 


that  the  world  was  a  topsy-turvy  place,  indeed, 
and  one's  own  nature  consistent  by  no  means. 
That  was  why,  when  he  ran  square  into  Truesdale 
Blish,  he  was  unable  to  cut  the  clerk  dead  as  the 
latter  deserved.  He  found  himself  bowing  and 
feeling  sorry  for  the  fellow,  who  importuned  for 
mercy  with  such  obsequious  eyes. 

'  I  suppose  you  won't  think  I  am  a  gentleman 
any  more,  if  you  ever  did,  Mr.  Hazard,"  Blish 
began  ruefully. 

"  Oh,  I  never  did,  I  do  assure  you,  Mr.  Blish," 
answered  the  musician,  with  a  smile.  If  through 
chicken-heartedness  he  must  tolerate  the  clerk, 
there  was  no  necessity  for  flattery,  at  least. 

"  Well,  I  suppose  I'm  not,"  admitted  Blish, 
"  at  least  not  according  to  your  standard,  Mr. 
Hazard.  Yet  I  can  say  I've  done  my  very  best, 
and  I  have  lifted  myself  a  long  ways  up,  so  much 
so  that  sometimes,  I  confess,  I  appear  a  marvel  to 
my  own  self.  I've  had  no  help." 

The  artless  plaintiveness  of  this  touched  Haz 
ard.  The  clerk  might  not  be  a  man  to  Hazard's 
liking,  but  he  had  shown  he  was  a  genuine  Amer 
ican,  he  aspired, — after  his  own  lights,  to  be  sure; 
but  then  Hazard  was  not  persuaded  of  the  sacro- 

241 

16 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

sanctity  of  any  particular  lights.  To  aspire,  the 
musician  fancied  the  essential  thing. 

Therefore — "  I  have  no  doubt  of  it,  Mr. 
Blish,"  he  rejoined  sympathetically. 

The  clerk's  face  lighted  up.  In  him,  doubtless, 
as  in  others,  lived  the  desire  to  be  understood.  "  I 
thank  you,  Mr.  Hazard." 

"  Oh,  not  at  all."  The  musician  disclaimed 
virtue.  '  I  can  see  the  excuses  for  a  thing  even 
when  I  do  not  approve  of  it." 

"  If,"  asked  Blish,  "  some  gentleman,  so 
acknowledged  in  society,  let  us  say,  had  done  what 
I  did,  insulted  a  good  woman,  would  you  consider 
him  no  gentleman,  as  you  do  me,  or  would  you 
only  set  him  down  for  a  cad?  " 

"  Many  gentlemen  have  done  exactly  what  you 
did,"  said  Hazard. 

"  Answer  my  question,  please,  Mr.  Hazard," 
pressed  the  clerk.  A  world  of  wistfulness — Haz 
ard  could  describe  it  by  no  other  term — was  in  his 
face. 

"  You  mean  you  would  rather  be  considered  a 
cad  than  not  a  gentleman,  admitting,  of  course, 
that  cads  may  be  gentlemen  or  gentlemen  cads?  " 

"  Of  course,"   assented  Truesdale   Blish.      "  I 

242 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

was  not  using  the  word  gentleman  in  its  middle- 
class  significance." 

"  Oh,"  said  Hazard,  "  I  see.  You  were  speak 
ing  from  the  aristocratic  point  of  view." 

"  Naturally,"  replied  Blish.  "  I  never  did  take 
any  stock  in  that  bourgeois  superstition,  the  true 
gentleman-at-heart." 

The  musician  frankly  wondered.  "  Jove,"  he 
said  to  himself,  "  the  ass  hasn't  a  spark  of  humour, 
any  more  than  old  man  Farson.  And  I'm  hanged 
if  I  don't  believe  both  idiots  mean  well,  too 
damned  well." 

"  Tell  me  what  you  think,"  insisted  Blish. 
"  I'm  anxious  to  know;  and  I  know  you  know 
and  that  you're  fair,  Mr.  Hazard.  I  want  to 
learn  the  truth,  so  I  can  discipline  myself  and  come 
nearer  to  my  ideal  of  what  a  gentleman  should 
be." 

"  God,"  thought  Hazard,  "  another  unsuspected 
idealist,  and  a  queer  sort,  too!"  Aloud  he  said: 
"  By  Jove,  Mr.  Blish,  I  don't  know  what  to  say. 
The  fact  is,  between  you  and  me,  I  know  less  and 
less  every  hour.  If  you  want  to  know  anything 
definite  in  this  dubious  world,  go  ask  some  fool." 


243 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

ILLUMINATING  CONVERSATIONS   "  ON  THE   SIDE." 

COLONEL  PATTEN  cheered  his  clerk's  de 
spondency.  "  Where  you  got  that  eye  I 
don't  know  and  I  don't  want  to  know," 
he  said.  "  But  I  guess  I  can  pretty  near  guess." 

"  I  hope  they  haven't  been  talking  against  me 
to  you,"  said  Blish,  anxiously. 

"  I  wouldn't  listen,  if  they  did,"  responded  the 
Colonel,  drily.  ''  If  you  want  to  go  'round  nights 
bumping  Elevated  pillars,  it  ain't  my  business; 
you  aren't  hurting  my  beauty  any." 

"  But  the  disfigurement  hardly  harmonizes  with 
the  shop,"  suggested  the  clerk  apprehensively. 

"  Nope,  it  would  fit  in  better  with  a  bar-room," 
agreed  the  Colonel. — "  But  I  like  a  game  cock, 
and  you  can  bring  in  any  old  assortment  of  eyes, 
so  you  accumulate  'em  in  a  good  fight."  He 
threw  back  his  own  shoulders  and  strutted  about 
Blish. 

"  Well,"  the  clerk  hesitated,  "  I  must  confess  I 
do  regret — " 

;'  Regret  be  hanged,"  roared  the  Colonel.     "  I 

244 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

•won't  have  any  puling  regrets  near  me.  Never 
regret  anything  you've  done,  never,  do  you  hear? 
You  did  it;  you  wanted  to  do  it;  you  liked  it  at 
the  time;  it  gave  you  satisfaction.  Don't  waste 
your  breath  whining,  then,  but  step  up  like  a  little 
man  and  settle  for  what  you've  had." 

"  I'm  paying,  Colonel,"  smiled  Blish  stoically. 
'  Then  smile,  young  man,  as  if  you  enjoyed  it. 
If  there  is  one  gent  I  despise  in  this  world,  his 
name  is  R.  E.  Morse."  And  the  Colonel  spat 
into  the  cuspidor.  But  the  next  moment  a  thought 
came  to  him  which  caused  him  to  step  closer  to  the 
clerk  with  a  look  in  his  eye  that  fairly  startled 
Biish.  "  But  look  here,  young  man,  one  thing 
you  remember.  Dimples  isn't  fair  game.  Hands 
off!" 

In  his  willow  chair  some  minutes  later,  while  he 
watched  Blish  piling  shirts,  the  old  pagan  rumi 
nated.  "  Now,  I  wonder  what's  going  to  happen. 
That  blue-faced  baboon's  so  serious  about  himself 
that  he'll  try  lifting  himself  by  his  bootstraps  into 
a  higher  realm  some  day.  Will  he  connect  with 
the  Parsons?  Well,  'most  anything  happens  in 
Chicago  sometimes." 

He  called  aloud:  "  Keep  a  stiff  upper  lip  and 
bluff  like  hell,  Blish.  If  you  get  licked,  smile  like 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

sixty  just  the  same.    Laugh  or  be  laughed  at,  that's 
the  law." 

Ned  Hazard  sat  astride  a  chair  in  Quarles's  of 
fice.  The  latter  gentleman  was  declaring:  "I 
don't  believe  it,  my  son;  you're  the  damnedest 
imaginative  cuss  I  ever  saw.  The  notion's  prepos 
terous."  He  looked  pityingly  at  his  friend. 

The  skepticism  nettled  Hazard.  "  Believe  it  or 
not,  you  block.  A  thing  can  be  so  without  your 
seeing  it.  You  are  always  mistaking  practicalness 
for  perception,  and  you've  got  about  as  much  of 
the  latter  as  I  have  of  the  former." 

"Stuff,  Ned,  don't  bristle!  Your  imagination 
makes  you  interesting,  if  not  reliable."  Quarles 
was  so  sure  of  the  truth  of  his  deliverance  that  he 
was  careless  of  what  the  other  thought  of  it. 

The  carelessness  made  Hazard  sputter.  "  Jove, 
Val,  you're  a  dense  animal  in  some  ways.  All  you 
see  is  economics,  mathematics,  profits,  production; 
but  of  this  world  as  it  is,  a  varying,  pulsating  thing 
of  life,  an  interesting,  exasperating,  emotional  ex 
perience,  you  will  never  know.  You  no  more  sense 
life  than  you  sense  beauty  or  intellect  for  its  own 
sake.  In  fact,  Val  Quarles,  you  are  a  good  deal 
of  a  fool." 

246 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Quarles's  centre  of  gravity  was  not  in  the  least 
unsettled.  He  remarked:  "All  this  fluster,  my 
son,  because  I  refuse  to  accept  your  statement  that 
old  man  Farson  is  bent  upon  marrying  our  cigar- 
girl.  You  always  had  a  faculty  for  leaping  at 
conclusions." 

'  You  never  did,  you  crawl  upon  them,"  Haz 
ard  railed.  "  But  I'll  make  you  believe.  She 
refused  me  yesterday,  without  hesitation;  it  never 
touched  her,  so  to  speak."  He  looked  triumphant 
ly  at  Quarles. 

"  She  certainly  showed  her  good  sense,  then," 
pronounced  the  latter,  decidedly. 

Hazard  looked  crestfallen.  Then  he  bright 
ened  :  u  But  she  wouldn't  have  done  it  so  like  a 
flash,  if  she  hadn't  had  something  in  reserve — up 
her  sleeve." 

Quarles's  brows  knit.  (  You  mean  she  is  a  cal 
culating  woman?  " 

"  All  women  are,  to  a  degree,"  said  Hazard. 
"  That  is,  they  see  the  chances  even  when  they're 
much  above  taking  them." 

Quarles  looked  straight  at  his  friend.  "  I'm 
afraid  you  don't  know  a  simple,  good  woman  when 
you  see  her,  Ned.  And,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  prefer 

247 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

to  consider  you  vain,  rather  than  Miss  Vantage 
calculating." 

Hazard  gasped.  ;c  I'm  up  against  it  again," 
he  thought,  "  against  the  blind  side  of  the  prac 
tical  brain.  Jove,  consider  it;  here  is  this  trust- 
organizing  creature  with  no  more  insight  than  a 
Stockyards  sausage. — Humph,  the  wisest  thing  I 
can  do  is  to  keep  still." 

Presently  Quarles  began  in  a  grave  tone: 
"  Ned,  excuse  me,  but  I've  a  word  to  say.  You 
are  a  friend  of  the  Farson  family,  I  suppose. 
Then  don't  make  sport  of  Mr.  Farson  as  you  do." 

"  How  can  I  help  it,  Val?  He  is  such  an  ob 
trusive  old  ass.  Perhaps  it  is  in  bad  taste  on  my 
part,  but  surely  I  have  provocation, — he  is  such 
a  bird." 

"  I  can't  see  it,  Ned.  I  know  he  is  peculiar,  of 
course;  but  you  should  remember,  before  criti 
cising,  what  he  is  and  what  you  are.  Mr.  Far- 
son  built  the  Pantheon  in  which  you  play  the  vio 
lin."  Quarles  was  benevolently  in  earnest. 

The  musician  shrugged  his  shoulders  in  despair. 
"  To  you,  Val,  this  is  a  well-ordered  world,  not 
an  ironical  happenstance. — But  the  truth  is  the  old 
poseur  gets  upon  my  nerves." 

"You  shouldn't  allow  it,  Ned;    it's  all  in  your 

248 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

imagination.  There  is  some  froth  about  A.  A. 
Parson,  to  be  sure;  but  in  the  underbody  he  is 
solid.  He  is  one  of  the  first  citizens  of  Chicago'; 
his  wealth  is  enormous;  his  deeds  of  kindness 
are  manifold,  and  there  is  a  great  deal  to  be  said 
in  his  favour." 

"  I  never  said  he  was  a  bad  sort,  Val.  I  only 
affirmed  he  was  ridiculous." 

"  I  can't  see  it,  Ned." 

"  Who  said  you  could?  "  snapped  Hazard,  get 
ting  to  his  feet.  '  You  think  I'm  ridiculous  in 
stead."  He  sidled  towards  the  door.  "  But  I'll 
tell  you,  Val, — give  you  a  straight  tip  in  choice 
Chicagoese, — if  you  don't  get  a  hustle  on,  you'll 
get  left  with  Miss  Vantage, — she'll  freeze  on  to 
the  respected  Alonzo.  See  if  she  don't." 


249 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE    PEREGRINATIONS    OF    THE    GRAND    ALONZO. 

CASEY   considered  the   moment  had  arrived 
in  which  to  insert  a  new  and  lively  flea  into 
his  august  patron's  ear.     "  You  remarked, 
sir,  a  few  days  ago,  how  Mr.  Quarles  was  develop- 
in'  a  trifle  coarse." 

"  I  did,  Casey,  so  I  did,"  responded  Alonzo 
A.  "  What  a  faculty  you  have  for  retaining  my 
utterances." 

"  I  treasure  'em,  sir;  they're  valuable  in  my 
business.  I  act  on  'em,  because  it  comes  'round 
'most  always  as  you  said  it  would.  Now,  for  in 
stance,  sir,  Mr.  Quarles  is  actin'  on  the  line  you 
laid  down  for  him." 

'  You  have  the  copious  blarney  of  your  irre 
pressible  race,  Casey.  But  you  can't  fool  or  flatter 
me,  let  me  tell  you  that." 

"  Sure  I  can't,  sir,  as  I've  learned  through  tryin'. 
You've  always  seen  clean  through  me,  sir." 

'  That  I  have,  Casey,  and  it  is  a  point  in  your 
favour  that  you  acknowledge  it. — But  what  has 

250 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

come  to  you  about  Quarles  that  confirms  my  prog 
nostications?  " 

"  It  has  come  to  me,  sir,  excuse  my  intimatnv  it, 
how  Mr.  Quarles  is  interested  in  a  low  quarter. 
They  say,  sir,  he's  lustin'  strong  after  that  there 
red-headed  girl  at  the  cigar  stand  downstairs." 

Mr.  Farson  struck  his  palm  against  his  brow. 
"  Don't  speak,  don't  dare  speak,"  he  hoarsely 
bade,  "  in  that  inconsiderate  manner  of  a  lady." 
He  got  upon  his  feet.  "  I  am  astonished  at  you, 
Casey,  confounded,  shocked."  But  he  was  careful 
not  to  look  his  man  in  the  eye. 

He  began  to  pace  the  room.  "  Casey,  I  have 
always  denominated  you  as  intrinsically  a  vulgar, 
damned  barber. — To  speak  in  regard  to  a  lady  as 
you  do  and  to  retail  below-stairs  gossip  to  me  as  if 
I  relished  it !  Casey,  you  are  a  veritable  gutter- 
rat,  let  me  tell  you  that." 

"Sure,"  said  Casey,  meekly.  "Who  am  I  to 
say  I  ain't?  " 

"  Sincerity  is  your  redeeming  virtue,  Casey," 
observed  Mr.  Farson,  softening.  Then  he 
grieved:  "One  would  have  thought  that  with 
my  example  before  you,  day  in,  day  out,  you'd  im 
prove,  get  elevated.  But  your  gross  quality  will 
manifest  itself,  intrude  upon  my  cultured  refine- 

251 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

ment. — By  George,  I'm  thoroughly  disgusted  with 
you,  Casey." 

Casey  slunk  away,  licking  his  lips.  He  con 
fided  to  the  bell-hop:  "  Dubby  dear,  I'll  be  mar- 
ryin'  off  the  Farson  family  entirely,  or  I  ain't  slick 
a  bit." 

The  flea,  thus  deftly  transposed,  left  the  grand 
Alonzo  neither  peace  nor  calm.  It  buzzed  in  his 
mind  when  he  would  have  slept  and  it  nibbled  him 
into  fever  when  he  was  awake.  He  had  been 
resting  in  the  sweet  assurance  that  the  fruit  was 
his  to  pluck  or  to  leave;  now  he  was  suddenly  ac 
quainted  with  the  disturbing  fact  that  another 
yearned  for  it,  one,  moreover,  who  notoriously 
had  the  habit  of  reaching  greedily  for  what  he 
wanted. 

Mr.  Farson  was  in  a  stew;  as  usual,  he  "  slop 
ped  over."  Indeed,  the  august  personage  was  sel 
dom  -able  to  contain  himself,  such  was  the  dis 
parity  between  the  vastness  of  his  soul  and  the 
limited  arena  in  which  it  must  disport. 

He  was  quite  unable  to  sit  still  or  to  endure  for 
ten  minutes  the  unsympathetic  presence  of  his 
daughter.  To  escape  others  and  himself  he  tried 
a  solitary  drive  behind  a  rather  skittish  pair;  but, 
when  he  turned  the  horses  homeward,  he  drove 

252 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

like  Jehu,  fairly  frantic  lest  Quarles,  in  his  ab 
sence,  should  have  abducted  the  Duchess,  or  per 
formed  some  equally  strenuous  feat.  He  rushed 
into  the  main  entrance  of  the  hotel  and  saw  with 
a  throb  of  relief  the  head  of  bronze-gold  against 
the  black  enamel  ground  of  the  signs.  Then  the 
nervous  creature  collapsed  into  the  first  chair. 

Suddenly  he  felt  the  need  to  confess.  It  was 
imperative  that  he  immediately  unbosom  himself 
and  receive  sympathy  in  return.  He  cast  his  eyes 
about,  seeking  some  one  he  might  impress  into  a 
"  heart-to-heart  "  talk. 

It  was  nearly  six  o'clock  and  Truesdale  Blish 
was  just  coming  in  from  business. 

"  Oh,  my  dear  young  friend,  how  delighted  I 
am  to  encounter  you,"  gushed  Alonzo  A.,  effu 
sively.  "  You  possibly  remember  we  enjoyed  a  lit 
tle  drink  some  time  ago,  together.  Let  us  have 
another,  can  we  not?" 

Blish  accepted  with  profuse  appreciation  of  the 
honour.  As  arm  in  arm  with  the  millionaire  he 
stalked  by  gaping  menials  to  the  bar-room,  his 
spirit  drank  elation  and  he  imagined  vain  things. 
He  was  convinced  that  the  father's  condescension 
wras  connected  with  the  daughter's  recognition  of 
a  few  nights  before. 

253 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

The  grand  Alonzo  scarcely  waited  for  the 
Scotch  whiskies  to  be  served  before  he  proceeded 
to  unpack  his  heart.  '  You  recollect,  my  dear 
young  friend,  something  of  the  subject  of  our 
previous  conversation  at  this  same  table  not  long 


ago? 


"  Sir,"  answered  the  courtly  clerk,  "  it  would 
not  be  like  me  to  forget  any  least  remark  you 
might  condescend  to  address  to  me;  but  in  the  in 
stance  you  speak  of,  you  honoured  me  far  more; 
you  gave  me  a  little  portion  of  your  confidence." 

"  Since  it  made  so  deep  an  impression  on  your 
mind,"  continued  the  flattered  potentate,  "  you  will 
have  no  difficulty  in  recalling  what  I  strongly 
hinted  concerning  my  infatuation  for  a  young 
woman  with  whose  acquaintance,  I  remember,  you 
informed  me  you  were  blest." 

"  Ah,  I  have  not  forgotten,  believe  me,  Mr. 
Parson.  And  I  remember  also  that  I  advised  you 
outright  to  trust  implicitly  the  force  of  your  per 
sonality  and  your  unique  distinction." 

'True,  too  true,  my  dear  young  friend;  but 
doubt  assails  one's  courage  as  the  worm  sleeps  in 
the  rose.  I  stated  then,  as  I  state  now,  the  fatal 
defect.  I  am  no  longer  young,  yet  youth  is  a  prime 
consideration  with  the  frailer  sex." 


254 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Pooh,  Mr.  Parson;  allow  me  the  liberty  of 
speech.  It  cannot  have  escaped  you  altogether 
that  you  are  universally  esteemed  one  of  the  hand 
somest  of  Chicago's  men." 

"  Am  I?  "  exclaimed  the  naive  Alonzo,  raptur 
ously.  And  he  pulled  down  the  obstreperous  point 
of  his  nose  to  remove  a  last  doubt. 

"  Indeed  you  are,"  reiterated  the  admiring 
clerk,  with  the  solemnity  of  Sir  Oracle.  "  Why, 
for  one  thing,"  he  added,  "  I've  heard  the  lady 
in  question  herself  say  your  eyes  were  the  most 
beautiful  for  a  man  she  ever  saw." 

"  The  dear  child,"  simpered  Mr.  Parson. 
Then  suddenly  he  blurted  out,  inelegantly,  his 
fear:  "  But  Quarles  is  no  slouch,  either,  and  he 
is  young  besides." 

Blish  did  not  so  much  as  "  crack  a  smile."  He 
was  reflecting  how  excellently  he  was  adapted  to 
the  exercise  of  a  diplomatic  function,  in  society. — 
'  Why,"  he  gasped,  as  if  surprised  into  the  indis 
cretion,  "  I  fancied  Mr.  Quarles  had  recently  suf 
fered  a  refusal  in  another  quarter." 

u  He  has,  by  George,  so  he  has,"  exulted  Mr. 
Parson.  "  And  now  he's  meanly  seeking  consola 
tion  for  his  bereavement  in  her  womanly  sympathy 
and  her  maiden  faith.  It  will  be  a  heinous  shame 

255 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

if  he  should  succeed,  let  me  tell  you  that.  Why, 
my  dear  young  friend,  my  sensibility  denominates 
as  a  crime  the  attempt  to  impose  upon  her  purity 
and  sweetness  his  second-hand  love  and  rejected  af 
fections."  The  grand  Alonzo  waxed  a  bit  lachry 
mose  as  well  as  entirely  sublime. 

But  a  single  confession  could  not  staunch  the 
flow  of  that  stupendous  soul.  After  dinner  that 
same  day  he  hunted  around  for  a  second  victim 
and  secured  the  old  haberdasher. 

The  two  gentlemen,  the  romantic  millionaire 
and  the  sporty  man-milliner,  sat  side  by  side,  each 
equally  well  groomed,  each  marked  by  a  grey  dis 
tinction.  Years  before  they  had  been  young  to 
gether,  and  their  friendship  had  survived  Chi 
cago's  rather  recent  effort  to  stratify  herself  into 
classes.  Colonel  Patten  was  one  of  the  few  men 
whom  Mr.  Farson  always  treated  as  an  equal;  in 
return,  the  former  always  treated  the  latter  to  the 
truth  as  it  appeared  to  him. 

Now  the  two  ancient  cronies  sat  together  in  the 
rotunda  with  their  heads  together,  Colonel  Pat 
ten  switching  his  stick  and  Mr.  Farson  pulling 
down  his  nose. 

"  Ever  get  tired  of  staying  a  bachelor?  "  asked 
Alonzo  A.,  quite  casually. 

256 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  No,  I  ain't  an  old  fool  yet,  even  if  I  am  go 
ing  on  seventy,"  replied  Colonel  Patten,  testily. 

Mr.  Farson  sighed  and  presently  he  ventured: 
"  I've  been  a  widower  ten  long,  lonely  years  now." 

"  And  you'll  stay  one  ten  long,  lonely  more,  if 
you've  got  horse-sense,"  squalled  the  haberdasher. 
Next  to  ill-fitting  clothes  he  detested  sentiment. 

"  But  I  suffer  melancholy  hours,  let  me  tell  you 
that,"  protested  the  grand  Alonzo,  dolefully. 

"  You'd  suffer  in  minutes  what  you  suffer  in 
hours  now,  if  you  were  trotting  in  double  harness," 
the  Colonel  snorted. 

"  But  doesn't  the  desolation  of  a  loveless  old  age 
ever  appall  you?  "  persisted  Mr.  Farson. 

"  I  ain't  old  yet,  not  by  a  damned  good  deal  ! 
What  fool  said  I  was?  "  shrilled  the  haberdasher. 
"  Because  we  were  littered  the  same  year,  by  gad, 
don't  fill  my  bones  with  the  same  rheumatiz  as 
yours  —  not  necessarily." 

Silence  fell  —  for  a  space.  Then  the  inexpress 
ible  yearnings  of  Alonzo  A.  vented  themselves  in 
speech  again.  "  But  don't  you  ever,  when  you're 
feeling  bad,  wish  you  had  a  little  wife  by  your  side 
to  coddle  and  to  comfort  you?  " 

'  Thunder  !  "    roared   the    Colonel,    "  I'm    not 
feeling  bad  —  never  do.     I'm  dead  game,   I  am, 


17 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

and  when  I  get  to  feeling  bad  I'll  go  take  a  last 
jump  in  the  lake  for  myself,  see  if  I  don't." 

"  But,"  complained  Alonzo,  "  you'll  wish  you 
had  a  ministering  hand  to  smooth  your  pillow  when 
you  come  to  die, — you'll  see,  you'll  see." 

"  Hell !  "  The  Colonel  smote  his  foot  with  his 
stick  so  hard  that  he  jumped  with  pain.  '  Who 
said  I  meant  to  kick  the  bucket?  You  must  want 
to  see  me  die  before  you  do,  you  try  so  hard  to 
push  me  into  matrimony."  He  turned  on  his  com 
panion  almost  fiercely:  "Marriage  is  the  living 
grave." 

"If  it  is,"  declared  Mr.  Farson,  sweetly  grand, 
"  I  must  protest  I'm  not  averse  to  it,  although  I 
am  opposed  to  so  denominating  the  nuptial  couch. 
—As  an  old  friend  I  wanted  to  let  you  know." 

The  Colonel  resigned  himself,  not  with  any  ex 
cess  of  graciousness,  however.  He  despised  old 
age  and  hated  it  both  in  himself  and  others. 
Senile  fondness  especially  he  abhorred. 

But  the  grand  Alonzo  was  oblivious.  "  I  have 
long  been  considering  I  would  take  a  little  wife, 
a  nice,  sweet,  tender  little  body.  At  my  time  of 
life,  young  as  I  feel,  I  do  not  want  to  mate  with 
a  fashionable  woman  of  society,  who,  in  the  enjoy 
ment  of  the  prestige  my  name  would  afford  her, 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

would  drag  me  from  function  to  function,  and  city 
to  city.  No,  no.  What  my  fond  heart  desires  is 
a  simple  sweet  soul  of  a  woman  who  would  es 
teem  it  the  privilege  and  mission  of  her  life  to  be 
devoted  to  her  husband.  I  yearn  for  a  comforting 
voice  to  soothe  my  declining  years.  I  should  re 
quire  my  prospective  bride  to  be  young  and  fresh 
and  true  and  tender  and  warm  and  loving " 

"Thunder,  it  ain't  much  you  want!"  gasped 
the  haberdasher.  "  And  what,  in  the  name  of 
Moses,  is  she  going  to  get  out  of  it  in  return?  " 

"  Why,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Farson,  opening  as 
tonished  eyes,  "  there  is  my  money,  my  position, 
my  personal  distinction,  isn't  there — all  I  am  and 
have  achieved.  They  ought  to  be  enough  to  keep 
a  woman  satisfied. 

"  Humph !  "  snorted  Colonel  Patten,  exasper 
ated  to  the  pitch  of  brutality.  "  In  return  for  all 
you  bestowed  you'd  expect  her,  I  suppose,  to  kiss 
and  keep  a-kissing  your  old  nut-cracker  mouth, 
and  to  like  her  duty,  too." 

Alonzo  A.  looked  grieved, — he  never  could  get 
angry  with  his  friend.  He  urged  remonstratively : 
"  Sometimes  positively  it  strikes  me,  Colonel,  your 
vulgarity  exceeds  Casey's  at  his  worst.  As  for  my 
teeth,  they  are  incontestably  the  most  expensive  to 
be  had  in  Chicago,  let  me  tell  you  that." 

259 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

IX   WHICH    TRUESDALE   BLISII    "ARRIVES." 

MISS  Parson  consulted  her  pride,  and,  to 
use  the  homely  simile,  "  cut  off  her  nose 
to  spite  her  face."  She  sent  a  note  to 
Hazard,  in  which  she  stated  that,  to  her  regret, 
time  would  no  longer  permit  the  continuation  of 
the  lessons,  as  in  a  few  days  she  expected  to  leave 
with  her  father  for  California.  She  expressed  ap 
preciation  of  Mr.  Hazard's  services  nor  did  she 
forbear  to  add  that  Casey  would  arrange  for  the 
bill. 

California,  to  be  sure,  was  the  invention  of 
pique;  but  further  consideration  commended  it  as 
wise.  It  would  remove  Mr.  Parson  from  the 
vicinage  of  temptation;  it  would  award  Mr.  Haz 
ard  his  deserts,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  neces 
sity  of  a  definite  break  with  him  would  be  de 
ferred.  When  in  May  she  returned  to  Chicago,  it 
was  probable  he  would  exhibit  a  chastened  spirit, 
and  then,  did  she  choose,  they  could  resume. 

Unexpectedly,  however,  Mr.  Parson  put  his 
foot  down  with  the  stubbornness  of  a  weak  man. 

260 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Pie  refused  to  budge  from  Chicago;  he  did  not 
propose  to  abandon  the  field  to  Quarles.  His  ob 
stinacy  confirmed  his  daughter's  fear  that  he 
might  be  seriously  resolved  upon  making  a  fool  of 
himself. 

Trepidation  seized  Miss  Farson.  That  con 
spicuous  minx  of  a  cigar-girl  for  one's  step-mother, 
— what  a  family  disgrace;  how  Chicago  would 
gloat!  In  a  measure  she  shared  the  Farsonesque 
susceptibility  to  the  opinion  of  the  world  and  of 
Tom,  Dick  and  Harry.  Already,  as  she  sus 
pected,  Chicago  laughed  out  of  one  side  of  its 
mouth  at  the  picturesque  pomposity  of  her  father. 
Let  a  slip  occur,  the  town  would  burst  into  a  happy 
roar.  Even  as  it  was,  only  Chicago's  respect  for 
piled-up  millions  kept  Chicago  respectful. 

;'  I  have  given  up  the  music  lessons,  father," 
she  announced.  "  I  find  that  Mr.  Hazard,  like 
Mr.  Quarles,  though  not  so  obviously,  is  lacking 
in  refinement." 

"What's  that?"  asked  Mr.  Farson,  unwilling 
to  accept  the  fact. — "  Oh,  come  now,  only  a  short 
time  ago  you  were  dilating  upon  his  culture  and  the 
culture  of  his  family  in  New  England  for  genera 
tions  back." 

261 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Yes,  but  he  himself  has  degenerated,  it  ap 
pears." 

"  Gen,  is  there  any  man,  according  to  your  no 
tion,  who  is  quite  refined?  "  asked  Alonzo  A.,  im 
patiently.  "  Certainly  I  never  heard  an  adverse 
word  concerning  the  young  man's  habits." 

"  Very  likely  I  am  to  blame — a  woman  should 
not  be  too  refined — that  is  from  a  man's  point  of 
view."  She  added  in  a  burst  of  exasperation: 
"  Sometimes  I  detest  men,  all  men,  for  being  men." 

"  I'm  extremely  sorry,  Gen,  let  me  tell  you 
that."  Mr.  Farson  sighed;  he  secretly  had  hoped 
to  be  relieved  of  the  guardianship  of  his  masterful 
daughter;  thankfully  he  would  have  transferred 
the  responsibility  to  the  musician.  True,  the 
match  could  not  be  considered  brilliant — it  would 
be  held  eccentric — but  at  all  events  it  would  be  a 
match.  The  long-suffering  parent  sometimes  won 
dered  if  Genevra  ever  would  consent  to  be  mar 
ried.  Already  she  was  twenty-six  and  had  refused 
nearly  every  eligible  and  ambitious  man  in  the 
County  of  Cook. 

He  ventured,  therefore,  a  eulogy  of  Hazard. 

"  Possibly,"  she  admitted  drily,  "  what  you  say 
of  him  may  be  the  truth.  But  how,  then,  do  you 
reconcile  his  temerity  in  praising  to  my  face  that 

262 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

pushing  creature  with  the  red  hair  who  disgraces 
the  lobby, — that  cigar-girl,  I  mean?  " 

The  grand  Alonzo  looked  distressed.  He 
pulled  his  nose.  "  I'm  sure  I  don't  know.  How 
should  I?  "  he  quavered. 

"  Then  you  ought  to,  if  you  do  not,"  his  daugh 
ter  declared.  "  She  makes  eyes  at  every  man,  and 
she  is  simply  crazy  to  get  married.  Any  old  thing 
will  do  for  her." 

"  Is  that  so?  "  gasped  guilty  Mr.  Farson. 

"  To  be  sure,"  his  inquisitor  responded,  "  as 
you  ought  to  have  found  out  for  yourself,  if  ever 
you  purchased  a  cigar  of  her.  Why,  she  is  after 
Val  Quarles  this  very  minute,  I  am  told,  and  likely 
to  land  him,  too." — She  changed  to  mocking  jocu 
larity:  "  I  do  hope,  father,  I'll  not  hear  the  sly 
boots  is  making  a  fool  of  you,  too. — You're  so 
easy,  you  know  you  are,  father." 

The  grand  Alonzo  avoided  the  inference  of  her 
narrow  look. 

However,  they  proved  sufficiently  alike  to  be 
affected  by  the  same  incident,  although  to  different 
issues,  as  they  were  about  to  go  in  to  dinner  that 
night. 

Miss  Farson  loitered  at  the  elevators,  while  Mr. 
Farson  stepped  across  the  lobby  to  secure  an  even- 

263 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

ing  paper.  He  wanted  it  not  so  much  for  the 
news,  as  for  use  at  the  table  as  a  screen  against  his 
daughter's  scrutiny. 

Miss  Parson,  who  usually  turned  a  stately  back 
upon  the  lobby,  this  time  allowed  herself  a  glance 
into  it.  She  took  a  second,  while  her  little  fists, 
hidden  in  the  drapery  of  her  skirt,  clenched  them 
selves.  Could  eyes  have  stabbed,  hers  would  have 
killed.  But  Quarles  only  bent  more  earnestly 
above  the  glass  counter  and  the  dimples  played 
more  swiftly  in  the  Duchess's  fair  cheeks. 

Miss  Farson  turned  abruptly  and  walked  into 
the  dining-room  alone. 

Thus  she  missed  the  exchange  that  followed  be 
tween  Mr.  Farson  and  the  same  offending  lady  of 
cigars. 

The  Duchess,  noticing  the  potentate's  approach, 
excused  herself  to  Quarles,  and  following  the  inner 
rim  of  her  counter,  presented  a  smiling  coun 
tenance  at  the  other  end  of  the  stand. 

As  she  handed  out  the  change  for  the  paper,  ex 
cited  Mr.  Farson  squeezed  her  fingers  frantically 
for  a  fraction  of  a  second,  and  leaning  over,  hissed 
rather  than  whispered:  "Are  you  letting  that 
man  make  love  to  you? — Tell  me  that! — Don't 
you  know  you  ought  not  to  permit  it?  You  can't 

264 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

tell  what  he  means,  or  if  he's  even  honourable,  let 
me  tell  you  that." 

"  Hush,"  she  bade,  a  bit  terrified.  "  You  can't 
know  what  you  are  saying,  Mr.  Parson." 

"  Oh,  yes  I  do,"  he  rejoined,  emphatically,  the 
senile  passion  in  him  momentarily  incandescent, 
"  yes,  I  do. — You're  sorry  for  him  and  he's  after 
consolation.  It's  a  shabby  trick  in  him  to  absorb 
all  he  can  get  and  to  promise  nothing  in  return. 
Now,  I  will  marry  you,  actually  I  will,  and  that 
will  be  the  best  fortune  that  can  happen  to  you, 
though  it  may  not  seem  so  specially  romantic  at 
first  blush,  perhaps."  • 

The  Duchess  shrank  from  the  importunate  old 
man.  But  it  was  as  imperative  that  she  maintain 
appearances  behind  her  stand  as  for  any  beauty 
in  a  drawing-room  to  remain  composed.  "  Surely, 
Mr.  Farson,"  she  laughed  lightly,  "  you  are  jok 
ing.  And  before  dinner,  too,  so  you  have  no  ex 
cuse." 

The  grand  Alonzo  elongated  himself.  If,  on 
the  spur  of  the  moment,  he  had  exceeded  the 
bounds  of  discretion,  chivalry  forbade  his  dray/ing 
back.  "  I  never  was  more  serious  in  my  life," 
he  declared  grandiloquently.  "  My  offer  is  a 
standing  one,  let  me  tell  you  that." 

265 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

The  Duchess  looked  incredulous.  "  Of  course 
I  am  surprised." 

He  bowed.  "  Then,  my  dear,  I  will  do  myself 
the  honour  to  repeat  my  proposal  to-morrow." 

"  I  would  rather  you  wouldn't,"  she  demurred. 

"  I  am  resolved,"  he  rejoined  resolutely. 
"  Where  do  you  live?  I'll  have  Casey  find  out  for 
me.  You  are  never  here  two  nights  in  succession, 
I  believe,  and,  therefore,  you  can  be  at  home  to 
morrow  night  when  I  call."  Again  he  bent  his 
majestic  front  and  stalked  oft"  unheedful  of  her 
protest. 

Quarles,  aware  of  something  unusual  in  the 
interchange,  had  turned  his  head  away  and  even 
gone  a  few  steps  from  the  stand.  The  virile  gen 
tleman  experienced  novel  delicacy  concerning  the 
embarrassments  of  the  poor  lady  of  cigars. 

Not  until  he  saw  Mr.  Parson  stride  by,  an  in 
effable  look  of  Quixotism  in  his  face,  did  Quarles 
venture  to  return.  He  found  the  Duchess  ill  at 
ease,  nor  did  his  quiet  sympathy  seem  to  soothe  so 
much  as  to  annoy  her.  He  modestly  reasoned  that 
his  room  might  be  more  of  a  kindness  than  his 
company,  and,  therefore,  he  soon  said  goodnight 
.and  left  the  hotel. 

The  withdrawal  was  a  credit  to  Quarles's  sen- 
266 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

sibility,  perhaps;  but  unwittingly  it  was  a  mistake, 
just  as  Mr.  Parson's  declaration  was  an  accidental 
master-stroke.  For  Quarles's  quick  departure  con 
firmed  Mr.  Parson's  charge,  that  he  sought  con 
solation  selfishly.  So  long  as  she  ministered  to 
his  distress,  he  stayed;  when  she  grew  agitated 
with  a  trouble  of  her  own,  he  fled. 

Indeed,  the  words  of  Mr.  Parson  and  the  insin 
uation  they  contained  deeply  influenced  her  mind. 
She  pondered  them,  seeking  to  extract  their  whole 
bitterness. 

Yes,  as  with  Mr.  Quarles  so  with  Mr.  Hazard 
and  with  Truesdale  Blish.  These  young  men 
liked  to  dally,  to  exchange  pleasantries,  to  enjoy 
her  geniality,  to  exhibit  their  vanities  for  her  ap 
proval,  even  to  console  their  disappointments  with 
her  sympathy.  They  paid  her  with  their  con 
descension.  She  worked  for  a  living;  she  was  a 
working-girl,  ineligible  for  the  high  station  of  wife 
to  one  of  the  young  lords. 

The  humiliation  she  endured  that  night  as, 
thinking  of  these  things,  she  lay  awake  in  her 
bed,  was  so  intense  that  all  her  after  days  of  se 
rene  happiness  never  quite  atoned. 

Miss  Parson,  returning  from  an  evening  at 
some  Lenten  function,  looked  into  the  rotunda  as 

267 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

she  waited  for  an  elevator.  She  flushed  angrily. 
That  upstart  of  a  girl,  whom  some  hours  before 
she  had  seen  spreading  her  nets  for  Quarks,  was 
now  engaged  upon  a  similar  enterprise  with  Haz 
ard,  to  ail  appearances. 

At  the  moment  Truesdale  Blish  approached  the 
elevators  without  perceiving  who  stood  waiting.' 
When  he  did  notice,  the  felicity  of  ascending  in 
the  same  car  with  Miss  Farson  quite  deranged  his 
equilibrium.  His  eyes  begged  hers,  worshipfully, 
for  recognition. 

Just  then  her  sidelong  watchfulness  discovered 
Hazard  crossing  to  the  corridor  that  led  to  a  side- 
street  exit.  The  musician  was  smiling  to  himself, 
softly,  a  bit  pitifully,  and  Miss  Farson  knew  whose 
influence  was  accountable. 

Perhaps  he  felt  her  notice.  He  looked  up  and 
immediately  prepared  to  answer  the  recognition  he 
expected. 

But  Miss  Farson  wheeled  abruptly  full  on 
Truesdale  Blish.  Smiling  upon  him,  she  even  took 
a  step  in  his  direction  and  held  out  her  hand.  The 
surprised  recipient  of  this  bounty  in  his  stupefac 
tion  nearly  stumbled,  but  with  an  effort  promptly 
rose  to  the  occasion,  as  became  an  unflustrated  man 
of  the  world. 

268 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Our  returns  coincide,  it  seems,"  she  gracious 
ly  vouchsafed. 

"  I  have  that  honour,"  was  the  clerk's  intelli 
gent  rejoinder. 

"  How  odd  it  is  to  live  under  the  same  roof  and 
yet  miss  seeing  people  except  once  a  week,  per 
haps,"  she  remarked. 

Before  quitting  the  car  at  the  first  floor  she  in 
formed  Mr.  Blish  that  she  would  be  glad  to  see 
him  some  Tuesday  afternoon. 


269 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

THE  DEVICE  OF  A  SIMPLE  HEART. 

THE  Duchess  peeped  between  the  curtains  to 
see  Mr.  Parson's  carriage  rolling  away. 
Then  she  went  up-stairs  to  her  own  room, 
a  hall  bed-room  on  the  third  floor. 

The  narrow  bed  occupied  two-thirds  of  the 
space.  A  cheap  wash-stand  and  her  own  big  trunk 
filled  much  of  what  remained.  The  trunk  served 
both  as  wardrobe  and  treasure-chest,  while  above 
it,  from  four  nails  driven  into  the  wall,  hung  all 
her  gowns  and  wraps.  Between  the  bed  and 
window  was  the  single  chair,  in  which  she  sat  and 
rocked,  and  rocking,  thought. 

The  carriage  now  was  blocks  away,  each  mo 
ment  bearing  her  opportunity  farther  from  her. 
And  she  remained  alone,  face  to  face  with  her  life 
and  its  vacancy.  Better  had  she  stayed  in  Mich 
igan  and  never  come  across  the  lake — she  at  least 
would  have  been  absorbed,  sucked  into  the  stream 
of  living,  meagre  though  it  was.  Here  in  the 
great  city,  tossed  about  like  a  chance  piece  of  flot 
sam,  cast  up  now  on  this  beach,  now  on  that,  fixed 

270 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

nowhere,  she  realized  she  was  superfluous,  un 
counted,  no  matter. 

That  is  a  conviction  likely  to  madden,  certain  to 
embitter,  human  nature.  Thus  she,  by  natural 
quality  a  spiritualist,  was  reduced  to  acknowledge 
her  complete  dependence  upon  material  oppor 
tunity.  Ironical  comedy, — the  soul  on  its  knees 
sueing  the  gross  world  for  its  salvation  and  a 
chance. 

Yet,  poignant  as  her  apprehension  was,  it  was 
not  in  her  to  brood  prolongedly.  There  rippled 
soon  the  first  faint  curve  of  a  smile  along  her  lip. 
The  smile  recurred,  grew  broader;  it  augmented 
into  laughter,  until,  rocking  her  chair  wildly,  the 
Duchess  went  into  peals. 

The  whole  performance  had  been  so  comical, 
Mr.  Farson  simply  delicious.  How,  in  the  con 
finement  of  the  boarding-house's  dingy  parlour,  he 
had  "carried  on!  "  He  was  dressed  as  for  the 
opera,  and  both  his  dress  and  manner  had  been  in 
dramatic  contrast  to  the  shabby-genteelness  of  the 
room.  He  had  risen  with  deliberate  impressive- 
ness  to  shut  the  door  and  then  had  taken  the 
centre  of  the  room  to  propose.  He  preferred,  evi 
dently,  to  meet  the  ordeal  on  his  feet,  standing 

271 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

majestically,  his  grandiose  head  almost  conflicting 
with  the  fly-blown  chandelier. 

The  Duchess  went  into  "  conniptions "  once 
again.  What  a  distinguished,  ridiculous  old  dear 
he  was,  and  how  deeply,  despite  his  sentimental 
flamboyancy  and  his  self-conscious  melodrama, 
he  had  been  in  earnest !  She  had  felt  then,  as  she 
knew  now,  that  she  could  have  loved  him  as  a  fond 
daughter  should,  as  his  own  daughter  failed  to  do. 

The  consciousness  charged  her  with  a  deep 
seriousness.  Gratitude  welled  up  in  her  heart. 
To  him  it  was  due  that  her  mind  could  rise  from 
the  humiliation  of  the  night  before,  that  now  she 
could  feel  she  had  an  option  whether  to  continue 
as  a  seller  of  cigars.  He  offered  her  release, — no 
longer  would  she  be  compelled  to  smile  upon  every 
customer,  to  cringe  and  to  make  favour,  to  be 
friends  with  Loye  and  to  put  up  with  the  malice  of 
Miss  Doty.  She  could  choose. 

Lying  wakeful  between  the  coarse  linen  of  her 
sheets,  thoughts  of  silken  night-robes,  scent  of 
lavender,  of  dainty  luxuries  her  soft  flesh  craved,  of 
those  amenities  which  transform  the  act  of  liv 
ing  from  endurance  into  pleasure — these  tempted 
her. 

She  turned  restlessly  in  bed,  which  she  felt  hot 
272 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

beneath  her.  Desire  of  life,  of  every  sense,  of  the 
soul  even,  all  desires  save  that  of  the  heart  urged 
alike.  The  round  of  weariness,  the  petty  strife, 
the  daily  compromises — they  could  be  dismissed 
like  dismal  dreams  and  she  could  wake  to  dwell 
forever  in  enchanted  halls.  The  change  required 
but  an  act  of  will,  nay,  nothing  so  positive,  simply 
acquiescence  on  her  part. 

She  almost  yearned  to  Mr.  Parson.  Oh,  in  re 
turn  she  could  be  very  kind,  perhaps  manage  to 
squeeze  out  a  few  drops  of  love  from  her  gratitude. 
To  be  sure,  there  would  be  times  when  she  must 
laugh  a  little;  but,  in  a  way,  was  not  even  his 
ridiculousness  endearing?  She  knew  how  sad  he 
was  at  intervals,  how  decidedly  he  craved  appre 
ciation  and  his  stint  of  flattery,  how  great,  in  fine, 
was  his  need  to  be  humoured  by  his  women-folk  at 
home. 

"  Oh,  I  could  play  the  old  man's  darling  to  per 
fection,"  she  concluded,  "  and  he'd  never  learn  the 
difference,  poor  dear."  So  confident  she  was  the 
tenderness  of  pity  could  well  nigh  equal  love's. 

"  But  would  I  fall  down  in  the  part  of  step 
mother?  "  That  important  particular  occurred  to 
her  for  the  first  time. 

The  Duchess's  mental  picture  of  Miss  Farson 

is  273 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

was  not  of  that  royal  woman  who,  on  a  previous 
night,  had  snubbed  her  mercilessly,  bat  of  the 
gracious  lady  who  at  one  time  had  been  sweet  to 
her.  Indeed,  the  Duchess  apologized  for  her 
heroine  somewhat  in  this  fashion:  ''  I  suppose  she 
was  just  a  teeny-weeny  bit  jealous  in  that  silly  way 
we  girls  get.  As  if  with  her  beauty,  her  money, 
and  her  cultured  manners  I'd  have  really  any  show 
with  Mr.  Hazard  or  any  other  man  she  wanted. — 
Heigho,  if  ever  I'm  her  mother,  my  biggest  pleas 
ure  will  be  loving  and  admiring  her  close  up. 
Would  she  let  me? — that's  the  question.  Or 
would  she  be  so  furious  at  me  for  daring  to  be 
come  Mrs.  Parson  that  she  just  never  would  for 
give  me  and  be  nice  at  all?  " 

Could  Miss  Parson  by  any  means  be  won?  If 
the  probability  were  slight,  the  reward,  the 
Duchess  felt,  would  be  the  dearest  in  the  world. 
She  would  be  willing  to  be  humble,  to  submit  to 
snubs,  to  endure  insult,  to  abase  herself,  if  only 
she  could  know  she  was  progressing  in  the  royal 
favour.  And  if,  at  length,  she  were  to  gain  the 
other's  toleration  and  affection,  she  could  imagine 
what  the  delight  of  their  relationship  might  be. 
What  confidences  that  would  mean,  what  mag 
nificent  secrets,  what  consultations  about  clothes, 

274 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

what  confessions  of  tastes,  what  sharing  of  hopes! 
It  would  be  worth  while  to  become  Mr.  Parson's 
wife  solely  for  the  sake  of  intimacy  with  his 
daughter,  were  that  privilege  but  assured. 

She  would  find  out.  How  suddenly  her  hopes 
and  fears  culminated  in  that  determination !  She 
would  ask — ask  of  Genevra  Farson.  If  direct, 
the  course  was  honest,  nor  could  the  latter  regard 
it  as  prompted  by  self-interest  or  induced  by  cal 
culation.  Would  not  its  sincerity,  indeed,  suffice 
to  disarm  suspicion;  its  candour  forestall  rebuff? 
In  her  inmost  heart  the  Duchess  was  assured  such 
bold  innocence  of  attack  must  succeed,  that  the 
woman  in  each  of  them  must  sympathize  with  the 
woman  in  the  other. 

t  was  the  inference  of  an  unsophisticated  mind, 
the  confidence  of  a  blameless  heart,  that  all  the 
evil  in  the  world  could  be  dissolved  by  force  of 
love,  and  all  the  perversity  of  human  nature,  if 
indeed  such  perversity  there  was,  could  be  trans 
muted  into  goodness,  were  faith  only  strong.  As 
if,  God  save  the  mark,  abundant  generosity  and 
simple  truthfulness  ever  had  succeeded  in  the  mis 
sion  they  appoint  themselves!  That  invariably 
has  proven  the  mistake  of  the  noble  and  mag 
nanimous  souls  of  every  age. 

275 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

AN  OBJECT  LESSON  IN  WOMANKIND 

THE  defection  of  A.  A.  Farson,  if  it  did  not 
jeopardize  the  success  of  the  new  consolida 
tion   undertaken   by   Quarles,    rendered    its 
achievement  more  difficult.     The  money  Mr.  Far- 
son  had  pledged  represented  a  heavy  loss,  but  the 
withdrawal  of  the  Farson  name  entailed  an  even 
heavier  loss  in  prestige.     For  the  millions  of  the 
Farson   fortune  commanded  the  respect  of  hard- 
headed  financiers,  as  it  inspired  the  confidence  of 
the  volatile  investing  public. 

Quarles  met  the  difficulty  characteristically.  He 
determined  to  seek  Mr.  Farson  as  a  business  man, 
and  to  persuade  or  to  induce  the  latter  to  recon 
sider  his  withdrawal.  This  he  was  the  less  back 
ward  about  doing,  since  he  believed  he  was  but 
urging  the  capitalist  to  do  himself  a  favour.  Ac 
cordingly  he  wrote,  requesting  a  business  appoint 
ment  immediately.  In  '  the  reply  Mr.  Farson 
rather  reluctantly  consented  to  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  next  day  as  the  time  for  the 

276 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

meeting,   and  named  his  own  apartment  in  the 
Pantheon  as  the  place. 

Clerk  Loye  directed  Quarles:  "Mr.  Farson 
sent  down  word,  sir,  you  were  to  walk  right  up. 
Shall  I  send  a  boy?  No,  you  know  the  way? 
He's  waiting  to  receive  you." 

As  Quarles  walked  down  the  passage  leading  to 
the  apartment,  his  mind  was  busily  engaged  upon 
the  matter  of  how  to  present  some  figures  to  the 
best  advantage  in  the  coming  interview.  For  that 
reason  his  ear  missed  the  sound  of  voices,  one  of 
them  high  pitched,  which  came  from  within 
through  the  open  door. 

If  he  had  any  thought,  it  was  that  the  door 
stood  open  on  his  own  account.  He  drew  the 
portiere  half  back. 

"  This  is  really  quite  the  most  impertinent  thing 
I  ever  heard  of."  His  ear  was  assailed  with  the 
shrilly-spoken  words. — "  Have  you  no  delicacy  or 
sense  of  shame  to  keep  you  from  coming  here  with 
this  preposterous  story,  which  I  do  not  for  one 
moment  believe?  " 

Quarles  looked  inside. 

Miss  Farson  stood  erect  in  the  very  centre  of 
the  room,  frigid  as  a  block  of  ice,  an  imperious 
frown  between  her  angry  brows,  whrle  her  poor 

277 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

visitor,  the  Duchess,  clad  in  her  cheap  gown,  and 
decked  in  her  cheap  finery,  sat  quivering  on  a 
chair's  edge,  her  lids  downcast,  her  delicate  cheeks 
now  flushing  with  shame,  now  paling  with  fear. 

She  had  come  in  confidence  of  heart,  assured  of 
at  least  a  sympathetic  understanding,  if  no  more, 
from  one  "  so  cultured  and  refined."  She  had 
been  received  indeed,  but  had  progressed  no 
farther  than  this  introductory  room.  Miss  Parson, 
to  emphasize  the  distance,  had  bade  her  visitor  be 
seated,  but  had  herself  remained  standing. 

Now,  lashed  by  each  word  as  by  a  whip,  the 
Duchess  winced  and  cowered.  Fond  simpleton, 
she  could  not  accept  such  brutality  as  a  fact,  and 
her  mind  was  dazed. 

The  heiress  made  a  gesture  of  dismissal.  "  Of 
course,"  she  announced,  "  I  shall  relate  this  imagi 
native  story  to  my  father,  and  I  do  not  know  what 
he  will  see  fit  to  do.  If,  however,  you  will  take 
my  advice,  you'll  wisely  keep  it  to  yourself.  It 
will  not  do  your  reputation  any  good  to  have  it  get 
out.  It's  too  unlikely  on  the  face  of  it  to  be  be 
lieved." 

The  Duchess  had  stiffened.  She  looked  up  with 
a  face  from  which  all  quivering  had  vanished.  She 
arose  from  her  seat  with  dignity,  the  dignity  of 

278 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

one  whose  tender  feeling  has  been  outraged.  She 
moved  to  withdraw  in  silence. 

But  Miss  Farson,  stepping  back,  drew  in  her 
skirts,  as  if  to  avoid  the  possibility  of  the  contam 
ination  of  touch. 

The  insult  was  too  palpable.  The  Duchess 
flashed  into  flame.  She  realized,  the  truth  stabbed 
her,  how  greatly  she  had  abased  her  own  dignity 
by  casting  herself  upon  the  magnanimity  of  this 
proud  and  mean  woman. 

She  stepped  forward  to  Miss  Farson,  her  soft 
eyes  blazing,  her  features  in  a  beautiful  paroxysm 
of  spiritual  rage.  "  I've  made  a  terrible  mistake 
— I  thought  you  were  fine  enough  to  understand, 
to  do  justice  to  my  motives. — It  was  because  I 
didn't  want  to  say  yes  to  Mr.  Farson  if  you — ob 
jected  to  me.  And  I  need  not  have  told  you  at 
all :  I  wouldn't  have,  if  f  were  what  you  pretend 
to  think  I  am." 

She  rocked  through  her  frail  length,  shaken  by 
some  blind  species  of  passion  against  the  incon 
ceivable  injustice,  the  outrageous  interpretations 
put  upon  the  purest  actions  of  the  heart  by  those 
whose  souls  are  vulgar. 

The  indictment  did  not  trouble  the  self-sufficient 
heiress  for  a  moment.  With  surpassing  aloofnccs 

279 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

she  retorted:  "  Oh,  you  need  not  go  into  my  char 
acter — your  own  is  the  discussion.  You  misunder 
stood  my  father — naturally  you  would  with  your 
conceit.  He  is  essentially  a  man  of  the  world  and 
no  doubt  he  acts  the  part  occasionally.  You  have 
simply  put  a  much  more  serious,  or  shall  I  say,  a 
much  more  virtuous  interpretation  upon  some  of 
his  expressions — he's  inclined  to  be  exuberant — 
than  you  had  any  warrant  for.  I  suppose  your 
vanity  is  immensely  increased  by  the  way  you  get 
flattered  by  the  men  you  sell  tobacco  to." 

'  You  do  not  speak  the  truth,  you  know  you  do 
not."  The  Duchess  confronted  her  enemy  with  a 
look  of  wildness.  Had  she  been  a  man  she  would 
have  struck  the  traducer  of  her  motives.  She  did 
not  know  what  she  said.  "  Mr.  Parson  asked  me 
out  and  out,  like  the  gentleman  he  is,  to  become 
his  wife.  I  could  have  taken  him  at  his  word  and 
he  would  have  fulfilled  it — he  is  honourable. — 
Nov.-,  if  I  want  it,  he  will  still,  and  you  can't  help 
it,  you  cruel,  unjust  woman,  you." 

The  heiress  did  not  so  much  as  flinch  that 
Quarles  could  see.  Her  disdain  was  almost  tangi 
ble,  so  hard  it  was.  The  man,  like  many  Ameri 
cans,  had  cherished  an  admiring  notion  of  what 

280 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

seemed  to  him  to  constitute  aristocracy  in  a  woman. 
Now  he  felt  the  quality  was  barbarous. 

Miss  Farson  stated  evenly :  '  Your  conception 
of  the  possibilities,  is,  believe  me,  ridiculous.  My 
father  is  a  gentleman  born,  whatever  else  he  may 
not  be.  His  class  have  their  regrettable  delin 
quencies,  perhaps.  But,  whatever  his  may  be,  as 
his  daughter,  let  me  assure  you,  I  am  not  required 
to  receive  his  mistresses,  prospective  or  past." 

The  Duchess  reeled.  Quarles,  opportunely 
springing  forward,  saved  her  from  a  fall.  She 
slid  downward  on  his  arm,  half  conscious,  her  face 
convulsive  in  its  suffering,  upturned  to  his  pitying 
eyes. 

How  his  strength  yearned  over  her! 

Miss  Parson's  icy  comment  interposed:  '  This 
impossible  person  called  to  obtain  my  consent  to 
her  marrying  my  father.  If  you  will  have  her 
removed,  I  shall  be  obliged,  my  dear  Val." 

"  Genevra,  how  can  you!  "  burst  from  Quarles. 
But  the  lady  had  already  quit  the  common  scene. 

With  imprecations  behind  his  teeth  for  the  cru 
elty  in  women,  he  bestowed  his  attention  on  the 
limp  victim.  He  got  her  to  a  chair,  and,  as  stand 
ing  over  her  he  chafed  her  hands,  he  said:  "  Don't 
mind,  child,  don't  mind  at  all!  It  takes  a  heart- 

281 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

less  fool  of  a  woman  not  to  know  what  decent 
mercy  is.  No  one  believes  a  word. — Why, 
why " 

The  Duchess  sobbed  and  giggled,  and  rocked 
herself  in  sheer  hysteria.  "  Oh,"  she  cried,  "  it's 
so  ridiculous  and  wretched.  I'm  such  a  fearful 
fool,  and  I  ought  to  be  pitied  instead  of  all  de 
spised. — Please,  I  want  to  go  straight  home — you 
good,  kind,  strong  man." — The  tears  ran  through 
the  wrinkles  of  her  laughter:  "  It's  just  the  same 
as  last  time, — the  last  time  I  was  an  idiot,  you 
know."  A  flash  of  drollery  lighted  her  streaming 
eyes. 

Quarles  bent  lower  down.  "  You  needn't  ever 
be  afraid  again,  Elsie,  little  girl." 

She  looked  up  quickly  and  looked  down  again. 
."  How  ever  did  vou  know  that  was  my  name?  " 
she  whispered. 

He  patted  the  slim  hands.  "  I'll  protect  you. 
No  one  shall  speak  badly  to  you  ever  again. — 
Poor  child,  poor  child."  His  deep  voice  broke. 
Her  tears  stopped  short,  and  while  their  crystal 
drops  still  hung  upon  her  cheeks,  her  trusting  eyes 
expressed  the  faith  she  had  in  him. 

His  unsentimental  heart  was  touched.  He 
loved,  he  knew  he  loved : — not  illusion,  not  desire, 

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Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

but  love  of  the  heart,  the  yearning,  yoked  with 
sacrificial  willingness,  to  cherish  and  make  happy 
one  poor  and  luckless  woman  out  of  the  multitude 
of  all  this  world. 

"  Now  dry  your  eyes,  dear  child,"  he  chided  in 
paternal  style,  "  and  brace  up  like  a  little  man. 
We're  in  the  country  of  the  enemy,  you  know, 
and  we  mustn't  let  our  feelings  run  away.  You'll 
have  to  walk  downstairs  alone — I'll  follow  by  the 
elevator,  and  I  will  put  you  safely  in  a  carriage  at 
the  side-street  entrance.  Remember  from  now  on 
you  are  not  friendless. — No,  no,  not  a  word.  You 
haven't  any  say  about  it.  You're  going  to  be 
helped,  and  you'll  not  be  asked  whether  you  like  it 
or  not;  you're  not  running  yourself  entirely  any 
more. — Now,  let's  get  out  of  this." 

She  obeyed  as  docilely  as  a  child.  The  grip  of 
mastery  was  laid  on  her,  she  felt,  and  her  soul 
of  souls  was  thankful  to  heaven  therefor. 


283 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

IN  WHICH  MISS  FARSOX  COMES  OUT  FIRMLY. 

MISS  PARSON  was  aroused.  She  swept 
through  the  apartment  to  the  room  used 
by  her  father  as  a  business  office.  She 
did  not  stop  to  knock  or  to  announce  herself;  she 
walked  right  in.  There  she  discovered  Alonzo  A. 
swinging  half  circles  in  a  swivel-chair  in  front  of 
a  formidable  roll-top  desk.  He  was  pulling  his 
proboscis  in  a  nervous  fashion,  while  smooth 
Casey,  still  and  unctuous,  waited  at  his  elbow. 

4  You've  come  to  tell  me  Quarles  is  here,"  at 
once  said  Mr.  Parson  to  prove  his  forecasting 
mind. 

1  No,"  announced  his  daughter,  curtly.  "  He 
is  busy  comforting  your  friend,  the  cigar-girl,  in 
the  reception  room  instead." 

'  What !  "  cried  the  grand  Alonzo,  collapsing. 

"  Hell!  "  slipped  from  Casey  like  a  chance  oath 
from  a  pietist. 

"  You  don't  say,"  panted  Alonzo.  "  What — 
what  can  it  mean?  " 

"  Easy,  easy  now,"  enjoined  Casey,  cautioning. 

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Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Oh,  you're  startled,  you  two !  "  scoffed  Miss 
Farson.  She  explained  to  her  father :  '  You  see, 
I  was  turning  Mademoiselle  Impertinence  out  of 
the  apartment,  when  in  the  nick  of  time  Val 
Quarles  happened  in  to  hold  her  up  and  dry  her 
tears.  It  was  indeed  fortunate;  for,  otherwise,  I'd 
have  had  the  silly  fool  in  hysterics  on  my  hands. — 
I  call  their  simultaneous  calls  a  happy  coinci 
dence." 

Mr.  Farson  searched  for  a  reply,  pulling  his 
nose  in  his  perplexity.  But  astute  Casey  fore 
stalled  what  in  all  probability  would  have  been  a 
foolish  speech: — "I  remember,  now  you  say  it, 
Miss,  you  was  askin'  me  a  day  or  so  ago  what  I 
thought  of  her;  you  was  kindly  plannin'  to  uplift 
the  poor  young  creature  in  some  way.  She  hasn't 
turned  out  unworthy  your  benevolence,  Miss,  has 
she?" 

Miss  Farson  wheeled  upon  the  faithful  servant. 
"  Don't  you  dare  try  to  smooth  me  down,  Casey, 
if  you  know  your  place  and  want  to  keep  it,  too, 
let  me  tell  you."  She  turned  to  her  father  with 
a  dangerous  smile.  "  The  cigar-girl  came  this 
time  not  by  my  invitation;  she  came  to  ask  me  to 
let  her  marry  you." 

The   grand   Alonzo   displayed  the   guilty   con- 

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Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

sciousness  of  a  child  caught  red-mouthed  at  the 
jam.  He  stammered  inarticulately. 

"  As  if  I'd  let  anyone  get  you,  father,"  she 
quietly  resumed,  "  no  matter  how  big  an  idiot  you 
had  made  of  yourself." 

Placating  Casey  again  interposed :  "  Of  course, 
Miss,  to  such  a  piece  of  impudence  there  wasn't 
but  one  answer.  I'd  like  to  have  been  there  myself 
to  point  her  the  way  out." 

The  lady  stamped  her  foot.  "  Casey,  will  you 
be  quiet.  If  I  expressed  my  mind,  I'd  more  than 
suspect  you  of  a  hand  in  this." 

Casey  denied  the  charge  with  an  indignant 
sweep  and  sulky  housing  of  the  tongue. 

"  However,  father,"  proceeded  Miss  Farson, 
''  I  made  the  best  of  a  bad  situation.  I  said  you 
possessed  the  usual  principles  of  a  man  of  your 
class  and  that  her  gullible  innocence  had  mistaken 
gallantry  for  something  better." 

The  grand  Alonzo  sat  bolt  upright  in  his  chair. 
"  By  George,  what  will  the  poor  child  think  of 
me  after  that!  "  he  exclaimed.  Next  moment  he 
sank  back  with  a  groan, — he  had  betrayed  him 
self. 

His  daughter's  scornful  look  impaled  him  and 
he  squirmed.  "  So  you  did  make  a  fool  of  your- 

286 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

self,  after  all,"  she  measured  the  words,  "  over — 
over  that — grisette."  The  word  lit  a  flame  in  Mr. 
Parson's  cheek.  "  It  would  be  one  thing,"  she 
continued,  "  if  you  \vere  simply  an  old  man  in  his 
dotage;  but  it  is  another,  when  besides  your  own 
you  dare  forget  the  family's  dignity  and  what  you 
owe  to  me  so  far  that  you  offer  my  mother's  place 
to  an  unprincipled  young  adventuress  like  that 
working  girl." 

Mr.  Farson  jerked  convulsively,  cast  one  long 
leg  over  the  other,  pulled  his  nose  until  it  hurt, 
and  then  somehow  shook  himself  together.  He 
began  loftily:  "You  mustn't  use  such  epithets, 
Gen;  they're  not  only  much  beneath  my  daugh 
ter,  let  me  tell  you  that,  but  I  am  averse  to  their 
use  in  my  presence." 

"  It  is  good  for  you  to  hear  a  spade  called  a 
spade,"  she  retorted  emphatically.  "  If  you  must 
persist  in  making  a  complete  idiot  of  your 
self " 

"  Now,  that's  too  much,  Gen,"  interrupted  Mr. 
Farson,  "  entirely  too  much.  And  I'll  not  permit 
it,  no,  I  won't;  let  me  tell  you  that." 

"  And  I'll  not  permit  you,  understand,  to  be 
made  a  goose  of  by  the  first  silly  chit  who  happens 
to  ogle  you."  Miss  Farson  laid  down  the  law. 

287 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  The  plain  truth  is  you  need  a  guardian,  and  I've 
been  watching  you  for  years  just  to  prevent  you 
cutting  up  some  ridiculous  caper  or  other  such  as 
this.  And  T  won't  stand  it,  not  for  a  moment, 
understand  that." 

Alonzo,  as  the  Chinese  say,  essayed  "  to  save 
his  face  "  :  "  Gen,  I  can't  have  you  speaking  so 
disrespectfully  to  your  own  father,  let  me  tell  you 
that."  He  spied  Casey  with  the  eye  he  dared  not 
fix  upon  his  daughter.  "  Casey,  what  do  you  mean 
by  standing  around  here  with  your  ears  open? 
Leave  the  room  and  leave  it  instantly." 

"  Then  behave  yourself  and  don't  disgrace  the 
family,"  admonished  Miss  Farson  like  a  grand 
mother.  "  Do  you  realize  the  danger  of  letting 
such  a  creature  entangle  you  up?  Do  you  dream 
what  she  is?  Why,  Val  Quarles  and  that  clerk 
of  Colonel  Patten's  had  a  knock-down  fight  over 
her  in  some  beer-garden  only  last  Sunday  night. 
That's  news,  I  suppose,  to  you,  and  no  doubt  you 
are  so  infatuated  you  will  refuse  to  believe  it." 

Indeed,  the  grand  Alonzo  was  vigorously  shak 
ing  his  head.  The  Cook  County  knight  of  De  La 
Mancha  would  have  deemed  himself  dishonoured, 
in  truth,  had  he  failed  at  this  juncture  to  voice  his 
conviction.  "  I  do  not  believe  it  a  moment,  Gen." 

288 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

He  looked  his  wrathful  daughter  full  in  the  face. 
"  I  am  sure  she  is  just  as  good  and  pure  a  woman 
as  can  be,  as  you  yourself  are,  Gen." — Bravo, 
Alonzo  A. ! 

"  How  dare  you — how  dare  you  compare  a 
working  girl  to  your  own  daughter!  "  Miss  Far- 
son  cried. 

Her  parent  trembled.  "  Excuse  me, — I  meant 
to — I  see  it  was  inappropriate,"  he  lamely  apolo 
gized.  "  But  I  do  not  believe  anything  against 
her, — nobody  could  make  me,  let  me  tell  you 
that."  The  voluble  lips  set  obstinately,  in  that 
way  which,  perhaps,  she  hated  most  of  all  things 
in  the  world. 

"  You  never  have  even  noticed  Mr.  Blish's 
black  eye,  I  suppose,"  she  jeered.  "  Not  to  see  it 
would  be  just  like  your  self-complacent  absorp 
tion." 

"  By  George,  I  know  what  I  will  do."  Mr. 
Farson  in  a  sudden  resolution  let  go  his  nose.  "  I 
will  ask  Quarles  and  that  young  fellow  Blish 
about  it  all.  Then  we  will  see.  If  you  think  I'm 
going  to  sit  still  and  hear  a  nice  girl's  character 
traduced  just  because  she's  poor,  you've  vastly 
misconceived  Alonzo  Alexander  Farson,  let  me  tell 
you  that."  His  spirit  surprised  even  himself. 

289 


19 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

At  this  point  Miss  Farson  sat  down,  calmly 
sat  down.  The  mere  act  sufficed  to  crush  the  new 
illusion  in  Alonzo's  mind  that  he  constituted 
against  formidable  odds  a  chivalrous  champion  of 
the  absent  and  weak.  When  Genevra  grew  cool 
as  well  as  insolent,  it  was  then  her  proud  sire 
feared  her  most. 

"  What  I  want  to  know,"  she  quietly  announced, 
"  is  whether  you  do  indeed  propose  to  make  a  fool 
of  yourself.  Are  you  going  to  let  that  common 
creature  snap  you  up?" 

The  grand  Alonzo  silently  swung  his  swivel 
chair  around  and  made  pretense  of  busying  him 
self  with  the  papers  on  his  desk. 

"  I  mean  to  sit  here  until  I  know,"  she  said. 

"  I  will  not  have  anything  to  do  with  you,  until 
you  are  respectful,"  he  rejoined. 

1  You  will  tell  me  what  I  want  to  know,"  she 
declared,  grimly.  She  knew  him:  all  that  she 
needed  to  do  was  to  sit  still  and  oppress  him  with 
her  presence.  He  would  yield. 

Ten  minutes  went  by.  Mr.  Farson  was  fidget 
ing. 

Casey  knocked.  "  Mr.  Quarles  is  here,  sir — 
says  he  was  unavoidably  delayed  and  wants  you 
to  see  him  now,  sir." 

290 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

..  -  ••  ?v  •  * 

"  Let  him  come  in,  Casey — this  minute."; 
Alonzo  A.  breathed  a  great  sigh  of  relief. 

"  You  ask  him,  or  I  will,  about  the  struggle  he! 
had  with  Mr.  Blish  over  your  immaculate  cigar- \ 
girl,"  bade  Miss  Parson,  with  cool  insistence. 

Quarles's  habit  was  never  to  let  go.  When  he 
had  accomplished  the  rescue  of  the  Duchess, — and 
he  despatched  the  affair  with  the  utmost  expedition 
consistent  with  the  greatest  kindness  to  her, — he 
resumed  business  where  it  had  been  interrupted 
and  returned  at  once  to  confront  Mr.  Parson  and 
persuade  him  to  a  course. 

Ushered  by  Casey,  Quarles  entered  briskly;  but 
sight  of  Miss  Parson  leisurely  stretched  in  a  chair 
and  eyeing  him  with  perhaps  a  contemptuous  un 
concern,  checked  his  practical  directness. 

She  took  the  lead  herself.  "  It's  a  family  coun 
cil,  Mr.  Quarles,  and  I  fancy  you  can  surmise 
what  is  its  subject.  I  am  sorry  to  trouble  you 
further,  when  you  have  been  troubled  so  much 
already;  but — you  are  an  old  friend  of  the  fam 
ily  and  the  family  dreadfully  needs  saving  just 
now.  Besides,  it's  clear  that  rescuing  distressed 
people  is  quite  your  forte.  And  I  do  assure  you 
we're  distressed,  most  improperly  distressed." 

291 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"What  can  I  do?"  inquired  Quarks  with 
civility. 

Miss  Parson  indulged  in  the  slightest  shrug. 
"  Father  will  tell  you  what  it  is,"  she  said.  She 
smiled  exasperatingly  upon  her  parent. 

Mr.  Farson  pulled  his  nose,  assumed  a  pomp, 
collapsed  into  humility.  "  Quarles,"  he  began, 
"  Gen  here  has  the  notion  I'm  in  danger  of  mak 
ing  a  fool  of  myself  by  marrying  the  cigar-girl 
in  the  lobby  downstairs, — Miss  Vantage,  her  name 
is." 

"  I  know,"  Quarles  nodded. 
'  Now  Gen  has  heard  something  against  her, 
I  don't  know  what, — beer-garden,  fight,  or  some 
thing  of  that  sort, — and  she's  positive  you  know 
about  it,  something  or  other  at  least, — you  and 
Colonel  Patten's  clerk,  eh,  Gen,  wasn't  it?"  He 
looked  from  one  to  the  other,  vaguely  apprehen 
sive  of  them  both. 

Quarles's  face  had  stiffened  until  it  was  a  mask. 
He  considered  or  affected  to  consider  a  half  min 
ute  perhaps.  Then,  unemotionally,  without  a  sug 
gestion  of  self-consciousness,  he  spoke:  "There 
was  a  foolish  row,  about  which  the  less  said  the 
better,  Mr.  Farson.  But  so  far  was  it  from  re 
flecting  in  any  way  upon  the  lady  whose  name  you 

292 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

mention  that  I  may  state  for  myself  that,  if  she 
will  consent  to  become  my  wife,  I  will  be  honoured. 
I  mean  to  ask  her,  too,  not  once,  nor  twice,  but 
right  along." 

Silence.  Quanes  did  not  even  glance  around. 
He  proceeded  in  a  matter-of-fact  tone.  "  But 

about  our  business,  Mr.  Farson "  He  reached 

into  his  breast  pocket  for  some  papers. 

But  Miss  Farson,  rising  from  her  chair,  stepped 
to  him.  A  dark  flush  stained  her  cheek.  "  You're 
a  fine  man,  Val  Quarles " — she  looked  him 
straight  in  the  eyes — "  and — I'm  your  friend." 

"  I  know  you  are,  Genevra,"  he  answered  sim 
ply. 

She  touched  his  sleeve  insistently.  "  Don't 
then,  don't  do  that !  There  is  the  world  and  your 
own  future  to  be  considered.  Don't  throw  your 
self  away." 

Perplexed,  Quarles  looked  at  her.  Small  won 
der,  since  it  would  have  perplexed  herself  to  ac 
count  for  her  own  utterance. 

But  if  her  motives  puzzled  him,  of  his  own  he 
was  not  uncertain.  The  glint  of  steel  appeared 
in  his  grey  eyes.  "  If  what  you  mean  is  that  it 
would  irretrievably  damage  my  position  in  society, 
then  I  say — let  it.  I  respect  society  and  social 

293 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

opinion;  I'm  not  a  natural  rebel.  But  there  are 
one  or  two  things  I  respect  more." 

"  That  is  very  brave,  Val,  but "  Miss 

Farson  was  pertinacious. 

Unconsciously  he  drew  himself  up.  "  Well,  I 
can  say,  I  guess,  I  have  a  pretty  close  grip  on  this 
world's  throat,  and  ten  years  from  now  it  will 
cost  them  some  not  to  recognize  my  wife."  It 
was  as  near  a  boast  as  those  who  knew  Quarles 
well  had  ever  heard  upon  his  lips. 

Admiration,  as  involuntary  as  her  next  moment's 
petulance,  glowed  in  Genevra  Farson's  eyes. 
"  What  fools  one  foolish  woman  makes  of  the 
best  of  you  men,"  she  exclaimed.  :<  What  fools 
we  women  make  of  ourselves,"  she  added,  as  she 
swept  from  -the  room. 

Faithful  Casey  stood  on  guard  without.  She 
motioned  him  to  follow  and  led  through  three  or 
four  rooms  into  that  in  which  she  usually  wasted 
time.  The  purpose  in  her  clear  mind  each  moment 
assumed  greater  definiteness.  The  power,  which 
must  have  been  derived  from  a  generation  before 
her  father,  the  generation  that  had  made  the 
money  that  made  the  family,  reappeared  as  will 
and  resource  in  the  heiress  of  the  Farsons  now. 

"  Casey," — her  curt  tone  was  for  a  menial,— 

294 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  I  tell  you  outright,  you've  got  to  help  us  out  of 
this.  We  are  not  going  to  sit  still  and  let  our 
selves  be  disgraced." 

"  I  don't  see  what  I  can  do,  Miss."  Casey 
licked  his  lips :  matters,  as  they  were  progressing, 
were  not  at  all  distasteful  to  the  manipulator  of 
the  puppets. 

"  See  here,  Casey."  The  injunction  brought 
him  round  with  a  sharp  turn.  "  I  am  not  my 
father;  you  can't  fool  me.  You've  got  to  play 
my  game,  even  if  it  doesn't  suit  your  own." 

Casey  protested  disinterested  devotion  of  many 
sorts  and  sizes;  but  his  mistress  cut  him  short. 

"  Let  me  make  the  situation  clear.  I  tolerate 
having  you  around  because,  upon  the  whole,  you 
are  the  least  of  evils  and  of  some  use  besides.  I, 
at  least,  am  aware  that  you  are  getting  rich  out  of 
us." 

Casey  blanched  to  a  sickly  hue.  Avarice  was 
the  Achilles  heel  to  his  invulnerability. 

She  proceeded :  "  You  are  welcome  to  your 
perquisites,  however.  But  I  warn  you,  do  not 
dare  to  interfere  with  me, — it  would  be  the  mis 
take  of  your  life." 

"  Sure,  miss." 

"  Listen.    This  thing  must  be  stopped,  and  you 

295 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

must  stop  it.  There  is  something  discreditable 
behind  that  affair  of  the  clerk  and  his  black  eye, 
something  that  involves  the  girl.  So  see  to  it 
you  speak  to  Mr.  Blish  before  father  gets  a  chance 
to.  Fix  it  with  him,  can't  you?  You  know  what 
I  mean.  Father's  got  pig-headed,  and  he's  capable 
of  any  foolishness  when  he's  so." 

Shifty  Casey  demurred:  "But  wasn't  Mr. 
Quarles  himself  sayin'  he  was  goin'  to  marry  her 
himself?" 

"Stuff!"  declared  Miss  Farson,  heatedly. 
"  She's  a  woman  and  just  fool  enough  to  take 
father  instead.  But,  Casey,  let  me  tell  you,  you 
want  to  stop  listening  at  doors  which  I  am  be 
hind." 

Casey  reddened.  "  I'll  go  right  'round  to  Pat 
tern  and  Patten's  and  nail  the  young  feller  now," 
he  volunteered. 

'  You'd  better,"  Miss  Farson  approved.     And 
Casey  felt  he  had. 

"  And  that  cigar-girl,  about  her,"  his  mis 
tress  called  after  him. 

Casey  ran  his  red  tongue  out.  "  Leave  her  to 
me,  Miss,"  he  said. 


296 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

A  FINE  ITALIAN  HAND. 

DUBBY,  me  son,  from  now  on  we've  got  to 
hump  ourselves,"  announced  Casey. 
"  What's  doin'?  "  asked  the  hop. 

"  Did  you  ever  see  a  woman  easy  on  a  horse? 
You  never  did."  Casey  put  and  answered  his  own 
question.  "  Well,  she'll  drive  us  as  her  Pop  never 
done.  You  want  to  be  steppin'  lively,  me  boy." 

"  Watch  me,"  returned  the  hop. 

Few  but  wealthy  or  extravagant  individuals  en 
tered  the  fashionable  haberdashery  of  Pattern  and 
Patten.  It  was  an  aesthetic  place'and  the  custom 
ers  had  to  pay  for  the  sestheticism.  Within  an  al 
cove  off  the  shop  more  resembling  a  boudoir  than 
the  private  office  of  the  firm,  Colonel  Patten  sat. 
In  an  easy  willow  chair  he  rested,  rocking  gently 
through  the  idle  watches  of  the  day,  seldom  get 
ting  up  even  to  stretch  his  straight  old  legs  except 
when  he  welcomed  some  customer  whose  money 
and  social  place  demanded  recognition  from  the 
first  of  haberda'shers. 

Such  a  "  swell "  the  Colonel  might  invite  to  sit 

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Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

down,  to  place  his  honourable  feet  on  the  thousand- 
dollar  Turkish  rug  and  to  put  between  his  high 
born  lips  a  choice  Havana  from  the  box  kept  in 
the  precious  inlaid  cabinet.  That  same  Turkish 
rug  constituted  the  official  carpet  upon  which  a 
clerk  was  frequently  invited  to  take  his  stand, 
while  the  proprietor  lectured  him  upon  the  art  of 
etiquette  towards  customers,  or  upon  points  of 
dress  which  Pattern  and  Patten  expected  their 
salesmen's  appearance  to  exemplify. 

"  Hello,  Casey,"  sang  out  Colonel  Patten, 
"  step  this  way.  The  sanctum  sanctorum  isn't  any 
too  good  for  a  rising  gentleman  like  you." 

Casey,  while  flattered,  felt  he  must  return  as 
good  as  he  had  received.  "  You  mustn't  think, 
Colonel,  that  I've  strolled  in  here  after  some  of 
your  glad  rags.  When  I  want  shirts  I  go  where  I 
don't  have  to  pay  for  'em  as  though  they  was 
chemises  from  France." 

"  Oh,  you're  on,  eh?"  chuckled  the  Colonel. 
'  Well,  between  us,  I  do  so,  too.  When  I  want 
a  thing  from  a  collar  button  to  a  sock,  I  just  slip 
'round  into  a  State  Street  store.  WTe,  Casey, 
you  and  I,  know  how  to  pluck  rich  dudes  and  peel 
fantastic  fools." 

"  Pshaw,  Colonel,"  winked  well-pleased  Casey, 

298 


"  an  Irishman  relishes  the  taste  of  his  own  blarney. 
Sure,  there  must  be  some  Irish  in  you,  you  know 
how  to  lay  it  on  so  nice." 

"  Ha,  ha,"  laughed  Colonel  Patten,  feinting 
with  his  stick  at  Casey's  larded  ribs.  '  You  al 
ways  duck  in  under  one's  guard,  you  do.  You 
get  next  the  heart,  you  black  deceiver." 

Casey  licked  his  lips,  his  eyes  smiling  down 
upon  the  seated  haberdasher. 

"  Well,  what  is  it  you  want,  you  villain?  "  pro 
ceeded  the  Colonel.  :i  It  isn't  wedding  pajamas 
for  the  old  man,  is  it?  He's  got  it  bad,  it  seems; 
blatted  sentimental  slush  the  other  night  and  dis 
gusted  me  enough  to  disturb  my  digestion  of  a 
good  Pantheon  dinner." 

"  You're  a  wise  one,  Colonel,  you  see  what's 
goin'  on."  Casey  owlishly  blinked.  "  So  you'll 
understand  without  me  explainin'  why  I  want  to 
speak  to  your  young  feller,  Blish,  over  there.  I 
want  to  take  him  'round  the  corner  half  an  hour 
for  a  conference  under  cover,  if  you'll  say  the  say." 

"  Sure,"  declared  Colonel  Patten,  mimicing. 
"  Blish,"  he  called  out,  "  let  those  waistcoats  go. 
My  friend,  Colonel  Casey  here,  wants  to  take  you 
out  with  him  to  drink  old  man  Parson's  health." 

Casey   expressed   his   thanks.      "  I'll   tell   Miss 

299 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Farson  how  agreeable  you  was;  she'll  thank  you, 
Colonel." 

"  Anything/'  responded  the  gentleman,  "  her 
obedient  servant,  Colonel  Patten,  can  do  for  Miss 
Farson,  just  let  him  know.  She's  a  high  stepper 
from  the  blue-grass,  that  filly  is." 

As  he  watched  his  clerk  depart  with  the  Irish 
man,  the  old  incorrigible  speculated:  "How  the 
deuce  did  that  piebald  cross-breed  ever  get  his 
mullet-head  inside  the  Farson  paddock  now? 
Gad,  a  woman's  the  one  surprise  that  keeps  sur- 
prisin'  till  you  die.  I've  slipped  out  of  a  lot  of 
worriment  not  marryin',  that's  a  cinch;  but  some 
times  it  strikes  me  this  here  celibacy's  pretty  much 
like  enjoyin'  the  races  without  sticking  up  a  dollar 
on  a  hoss, — mighty  safe,  but  demnition  slow." 

The  proper  prelude  to  an  important  conference 
in  Casey's  opinion  was  "  to  open  wine."  He  or 
dered  a  small  bottle  of  champagne  in  the  secluded 
smoking  room  of  the  little  hotel  around  the  corner 
to  which  he  had  conducted  Blish.  The  latter  was 
impressed. 

"  A  good  dry  wine."  The  clerk  smacked  his 
lips  to  show  he  was  a  connoisseur. 

"  Bought  with  good  money,"  Casey  smirked. 
300 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Farson  money, — always  good  and  about  as  much 
of  it  as  any  other  in  Chicago." 

"  I  suppose  that's  so,"  assented  Blish  in  a  tone 
of  awe.  "  And  you  ought  to  know  how  much 
there  is,  if  anybody  does." 

"  Fine  old  family,  too,  the  Farson  family,"  ob 
served  Casey,  not  irrelevantly.  "  It's  too  bad,  it 
is,  that  things  will  happen  to  the  finest  first  fam 
ilies  of  the  land  worse  than  to  us  common  folks." 
Casey  sighed. 

"  Ah,  but  they  do,"  affirmed  Blish,  authorita 
tive  upon  the  laws  obtaining  in  the  patrician 
world.  "  The  most  aristocratic  families  of  my  ac 
quaintance,  families  whose  genealogies  embrace  not 
a  single  plebeian  ancestor,  whose  men  were  gentle 
men  and  whose  women  were  gentlewomen, — they 
are  just  the  ones  to  whom  things  happen.  Pe 
culiar,  isn't  it,  how  breeding  will  revert  and  race 
degenerate,  whereas  vulgar  morals  preserve  com 
mon  persons  intact." 

"  Human  nature,"  Casey  moralized,  "  the  na 
ture  in  humans,  that  is,  will  break  out  in  'em  all. 
I've  seen  it  a  heap  o'  times.  Now,  here's  Mr. 
Farson " 

"  Charming  gentleman  of  the  old  school,"  the 
clerk  interjected,  "  fine  old  sample  of  the  elaborate 

301 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

courtesy  that  has  gone  out,  much  to  my  own  re 
gret.  What  an  admirable  exception  he  appears 
in  this  pushing  modern  city." 

"  Sure,"  agreed  Casey,  "  sure.  But  all  the 
same  he's  got  a  bit  of  the  Old  Scratch  in  him, 
as  much  as  any  barber  or  a  clerk.  He's  nutty  now 
on  that  red-headed  cigar-girl  at  the  Pantheon." 

"  You're  telling  no  news,"  swelled  the  clerk, 
setting  down  his  empty  glass.  "  Mr.  Parson  con 
fided  his  infatuation  to  me  a  week  or  more  ago. 
But  I  took  it  for  an  intrigue;  I  didn't  suppose 
he'd  think  seriously  of  marrying  so  much  out 
side  his  own  class." 

"  He's  stuck  on  doin'  it,"  declared  Casey.  "  It 
will  be  mighty  bitter  for  his  family,  so  to  say." 

''  I  should  prophesy  that  such  a  mesalliance 
would  completely  break  the  proud  heart  of  his 
daughter,"  pronounced  the  clerk.  "  Really,  it  will 
be  terrible  for  her.  I  do  not  know  whether  you 
appreciate  it,  Mr.  Casey,  but  she  '13  so  removed 
above  all  commonness,  she  is  so  utterly  a  patrician, 
a  grande  dame  of  grande  dames." 

"  Sure  she  is,"  agreed  Casey.  "  And  I  want 
to  keep  her  so.  I  stand  in  a  feudal  relation  to 
the  family,  the  old  man  says,  and  any  bad  breaks 
they  make  hurts  me  as  well  as  them.  If  it  ain't 

302 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

too  inconvenient,  I'd  like  to  ask  for  your  advice, 
Mr.  Blish,  as  you're  a  polished  man  of  the 
world." 

"  Whatever  services  I  can  render  the  Parson 
family  I  am  anxious  to  afford,"  responded  the 
clerk  with  alacrity. 

"  You  can  fancy  the  stew  she's  in,"  confided 
Casey.  "  She's  that  nervous  she's  like  a  chicken 
with  its  head  off.  You  see  generally  the  old 
man's  easy,  Mr.  Blish;  but  when  he's  stuck,  he's 
as  hard  to  drive  as  a  pig." 

"  Then  you  really  are  alarmed  lest  he  should 
precipitate  the  ruin  of  the  family?"  asked  the 
horrified  clerk.  "  Have  the  traditions  of  his  class 
lost  all  their  weight  with  him?  Can  not  appeal 
be  made  to  his  honour?  That  remains  last  of  all 
to  a  gentleman." 

"  Blish,  there  ain't  no  fool  like  an  old  fool, 
so  to  say."  Casey  shook  his  head. 

"  I  wish  I  might  do  something  for  Miss  Far- 
son's  sake,"  murmured  Blish.  "  The  catastrophe 
will  outrage  her  pride  and  crush  her  regal  head 
into  the  dust  with  shame." 

Casey's  vulgar  mind  intruded:  "  Well,  I  don't 
see  no  help  for  it,  unless  it  can  be  fixed  up  some 
way  with  Red-head.  She  couldn't  be  seen,  could 

303 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

she?"  He  added:  "We  wouldn't  expect  her 
to  be  cheap." 

Blish  looked  shocked.  "  Buy  her  off,  you 
mean?" 

"  There's  someone  would  be  mighty  grateful, 
if  she'd  be,"  insinuated  Casey.  He  ordered  a 
second  bottle  of  champagne. 

An  idea  occurred  to  the  clerk.  He  could  not 
better  recommend  himself  in  a  certain  high  quar 
ter  than  by  success  in  disposing  of  this  annoy 
ance. 

Casey  happened  to  confirm  the  notion.  "  So 
if  her  mind  ain't  open  to  inducements,  Mr.  Blish, 
ain't  her  morals,  that  you  ever  heard  of,  been 
tampered  with?  " 

"  Well,"  the  clerk  hesitated,  "  I  will  say  I 
think  Mr.  Parson  ought  to  be  made  acquainted 
with  the  facts  about  her;  he  can  draw  his  own 
deductions,  as  he  pleases." 

Casey's  red  tongue  scoured  the  corners  of  his 
mouth.  "  Mr.  Blish — a  leetle  peculiarity  in  the 
old  man — there's  a  thing  he  won't  stand  for  in  a 
woman, —  he  won't  stand  for  her  ever  havin'  cut 
up  gay. — There's  where  we  stop  her — see!  " 

The  clerk  would  not  accept  so  blunt  a  state 
ment.  "  As  a  gentleman,  let  me  tell  you,  Mr. 

304 


Casey,  my  invariable  rule  is  never  to  tarnish  the 
good  name  of  a  woman,"  he  said  severely. 

"That's  fine  for  talkin',  Mr.  Blish,"  said 
Casey,  "  but  you,  as  a  man  of  the  world,  know 
how  things  sometimes  has  got  to  be  fixed.  It 
won't  do  to  be  too  squeamish  when  the  fine  old 
family  feelin's  of  such  an  aristocrat  as  Miss  Far- 
son  is  mixed  up.  You  know  that's  so,  and  you 
know  she  can  give  a  swell-lookin'  feller  a  boost 
in  high-toned  society,  if  she's  a  mind  to." 

The  clerk  drained  his  glass.  The  wine,  or 
was  it  ambition,  fired  the  elation  in  his  veins.  He 
leered  at  Casey.  "  True,  Casey,  true.  A  gentle 
man  should  stand  by  his  order,  even  if  a  nice  scru 
ple  must  be  sacrificed.  That's  my  philosophy." 

"  Have  some  more  champagne  with  me," 
purred  Casey.  "  Mr.  Blish,  I'm  goin'  to  trust 
you  to  a  family  secret, — there  ain't  no  other  man 
in  Chicago  I  would  do  it  for.  This  afternoon  it 
was  rough  house  in  the  Farson  flat.  The  Miss, 
she  had  it  hot  and  heavy  with  the  old  man.  In 
the  last  round  she  floored  him  with  a  mention  of 
that  leetle  scrap  you  and  Mr.  Quarles  pulled  off." 

"She's  heard  about  that?"  The  clerk  de 
spaired  :  '  Then  she  will  never  get  over  it  that 

305 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

before  knowing  her  I  demeaned  myself  by  an 
association  with  a  plebeian  working-girl." 

"  You  bloods  will  have  your  frolics,  Mr.  Blish," 
cheered  Casey.  "  And  it  won't  cut  no  ice  with 
her.  She's  learned  to  make  allowances,  or  she 
wouldn't  be  movin'  in  the  Smart  Set,  so  to  say." 

"  Probably  that  is  the  way  she  looks  at  it," 
the  clerk  considered.  "  I  should  have  remem 
bered  that  she  is  free  from  middle-class  prejudices, 
of  course." 

"  Sure,"  affirmed  Casey, 

"  What  did  Mr.  Farson  say  about  the  occur 
rence  at  the  garden?"  asked  the  clerk. 

"  Cut  up  rough.  He  swore  the  gal  was  as  good 
and  pure  as  his  own  daughter." 

"What  blasphemy!" 

"  He  finished  by  sayin'  you  was  a  young  friend 
of  his  and  he  meant  to  ask  you  about  it  the  first 
time  he  seen  you." 

Blish  coloured.  "  If  Mr.  Farson  asks  me  for 
the  facts,  I  will  let  him  know  exactly  what  hap 
pened  and  how  it  came  about." 

Casey  licked  his  lips.  "  It'll  do  the  business. — 
I  don't  know  as  you  know,  Mr.  Blish,  but  Miss 
Farson  thinks  you  are  a  might)  swell  lookin'  man." 

"  Does  she?  "  the  clerk  simpered.     "  I  am  con- 

306 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

vinced  it  is  my  duty  to  tell  Mr.  Parson  all  I 
know." 

"  Sure  it  is,"  said  Casey. 

In  fact,  Blish  thought  it  was.  What  the  ex 
igency  of  an  exalted  family  demanded,  assumed 
an  aspect  of  moral  obligation  to  his  obsequious 
mind.  In  the  face  of  a  Farson  family  crisis,  what 
vested  right  had  an  inconsequential  cigar-girl  even 
'.in  her  good  repute? 

Casey,  upon  his  return  to  the  hotel,  summoned 
Dubbin.  "  Peter,  I  want  it  made  too  hot  here  for 
Red-head.  She  must  want  to  go." 


307 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE  BAITING  OF  THE  DUCHESS. 

WEARY,  drooping,  the  singular  pallour  of 
her'skin  accentuated  by  the  glowing  cop 
per  of  her  hair,  the  Duchess  stood  at  duty 
behind  her  stand.  Like  a  slave  she  had  been 
driven  to  her  task,  Necessity  her  master.  Now 
that  she  had  displeased  the  Princess  of  the 
Pantheon,  there  was  no  telling  when  she  might  be 
dismissed,  when,  without  work,  put  upon  the 
street.  She  felt,  therefore,  that  it  behooved  her  to 
be  diligent. 

A  messenger  delivered  a  letter  into  her  hand. 
It  was  from  Quarles.  She  opened  and  read  fast, 
while  pink  delicately  dyed  the  pale  orbs  of  her 
cheeks  which  dimpled  like  a  child's. 

She  looked  up  from  the  letter  upon  a  changed 
world.  She  felt  secure  behind  her  counters:  the 
menace  she  had  perceived  in  the  aspect  of  the 
menials  since  yesterday's  rumours  had  circulated 
about,  no  longer  caused  anxiety;  the  prospect  of 
no  work  to  be  found  and  of  little  money,  which 
she  had  feared,  no  longer  struck  terror  to  her 

308 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

heart.  She  could  smile  in  the  lobby's  face,  she 
found.  In  fancy  she  could  hear  the  wolves  of 
want  and  woe  outside,  leaping  in  vain  fury,  and 
she  rather  liked  their  snarling,  the  gleam  of  the 
treacherous  white  teeth,  the  red  of  the  lustful 
eyes,  now  that  she  was  buttressed  in  her  tower 
of  confidence,  now  that  she  knew  she  never  was 
to  fall  their  prey. 

The  grand  Alonzo  and  the  elegant  Blish,  in 
company  returning  from  the  region  of  the  bar, 
glanced  into  the  rotunda  without  entering.  The 
light  o'  love  Duchess  was  a  lady  all  of  smiles. 

They  had  had  their  conference.  Mr.  Parson 
had  commenced  in  sentimental  chivalry  and  had 
concluded  in  sentimental  gratitude.  Sententiously 
he  had  declared  his  readiness  to  demonstrate  his 
absolute  belief  in  the  purity  of  womanhood  and  in 
the  elevation  of  a  working-girl,  even  to  the  ex 
treme  of  imperiling  his  social  eminence  by  making 
her  his  wife. 

But  at  the  end  he  was  quite  unmanned;  he 
evinced  an  almost  tearful  sense  of  obligation. — 
"  Permit  me,  Mr.  Blish,  I  am  vastly  in  your 
debt.  There  is  no  question  but  that  you  have 
saved  me  from  an  egregious  folly,  let  me  tell  you 
that.  My  too  confiding  soul  might  have  betrayed 

309 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

me  into  the  commission  of  an  outrage  upon  myself, 
my  family,  upon  society  at  large.  You  have  pre 
vented  that.  You  perceive,  Mr.  Blish,  every  one 
of  us  has  his  peculiar  weakness,  even  the  Na 
poleons  of  us  in  every  line,  and  I  take  it,  it  is  no 
humiliation  for  the  greatest  of  us  all  to  confess  the 
aid  he  received  from  the  humblest.  You  recall  the 
ancient  fable,  my  dear  young  friend,  do  you  not, 
how  the  humble  mouse  gnawed  the  vile  rope  which 
netted  down  the  lord  of  the  whole  animal  king 
dom?  Now  can  you  believe  that  lion  ever  forgot 
that  mouse  ?  He  never  did,  my  dear  young  friend, 
let  me  tell  you  that." 

Thus  grand  Alonzo,  although  suffering  both  a 
mangled  affection  and  a  wounded  conceit,  con 
trived  to  strike  a  royal  attitude  and  to  emerge 
from  a  distressful  episode  with  some  satisfaction 
to  himself. — Did  he  afterwards  remember  his 
gratitude  to  the  clerk?  Nay,  he  detested  the  name 
and  loathed  the  shadow  of  Truesdale  Blish.  Put 
not  your  trust  in  princes,  neither  in  Napoleons  of 
any  sort. 

A  rush  of  custom  detained  the  Duchess  very  late 
that  evening.  A  banquet  of  two  hundred  plates 
had  been  served  and  when  the  guests  came  down 
shortly  after  midnight,  many  wanted  cigars. 

310 


With  their  departure  the  rotunda  became  as 
stagnant  as  a  spinster's  sitting-room.  Loye,  who 
had  been  relieved  at  midnight,  lingered  in  the 
clerk's  closet,  reluctant  to  go  home.  Miss  Doty, 
too,  had  been  delayed  by  the  necessity  of  posting 
her  books,  inasmuch  as  she  had  gossiped  the  major 
part  of  the  evening  away.  Altogether  small 
chance  of  interruption  existed.  The  night  trains 
had  all  arrived  and  Chicago,  of  the  great  cities, 
goes  earliest  to  bed. 

The  opportunity  was  at  hand,  and  clerk  Loye 
slouched  round  the  corner  leading  from  Casey's 
den.  He  wore  his  hat  and  a  coat  from  under 
which  his  quarters  spread  like  the  black  legs  of  a 
malignant  spider. 

"  Say,  Loye,  old  boy,"  piped  Miss  Doty  from 
her  arch,  "  noticed  our  Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 
to-night?  Looks  like  a  broken  lily  fainting  from 
a  withered  stem,  don't  she  now?" 

"  Should  say  yes,"  called  back  clerk  Loye. 
"  She  set  her  heart  on  getting  up  so  high  she 
couldn't  fall  down,  that's  what  she  did:  but  she's 
slipped  up  and  it  hurt  some,  poor  girl." 

"  Skated  and  fell,  she  did,"  trilled  the  cashier. 
"  Played  old  Farce  for  a  fool  and  got  played 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

herself — my  eye !  Which  of  'em  served  for  sucker 
should  you  say,  hey,  Loye,  old  boy?  " 

"Old  Farce?  Well,  I  guess  not,"  replied  the 
clerk.  "  We  guess  he  got  what  he  was  after, 
don't  we,  Doty,  by  the  look  of  things?  " 

"  Say,  Duchess,"  shrilled  Miss  Doty,  "  you're 
as  green  as  green  pickles,  that's  what  you  are. 
You'll  never  lose  it  either;  greenness  ain't  as  easy 
to  get  rid  of  as  is  goodness,  so  you've  found  out." 

Loye  now  had  an  elbow  on  the  glass  of  the 
cigar  case.  "  Say,  Duchess,  where's  all  your  fancy 
airs  to  come  in  now?  I  guess  now  you  ain't  a-goin' 
to  be  so  stuck  up  with  me  as  you  used  to  was." 
He  leered  knowingly. 

"  Sure,  she  won't,"  cried  the  cashier.  "  Few 
Clothes  hasn't  got  that  reputation  to  be  kept  up 
no  more.  There  ain't  any  call  for  her  to  be 
prudish  now." 

"  Oh,  you  needn't  look  so  white  and  distant," 
jeered  the  clerk;  "  you  can't  play  the  sensitive  and 
refined.  Come  down  off  your  perch,  birdie,  and 
mix  up  with  us  common  herd.  Old  Farce's  cast- 
offs  ain't  allowed  to  lady  it  around,  are  they,  Doty, 
old  girl?" 

''  Well,  I  should  remark  not."  The  cashier  was 
emphatic.  "  Especially  when  they've  just  as  few 

312 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

clothes  after  as  before.  Saints  ain't  pleasant  com 
pany  for  average  folks,  but  fools  ain't  fit  to  wipe 
your  feet  on." 

The  Duchess  stood  rigidly  behind  her  counter. 
Her  lips  were  blanched,  her  cheeks  bloodless,  and 
she  was  quivering  in  every  limb. 

Loye  opened  his  mouth  for  further  utterance. 
A  hand  slapped  it  shut  again  and  a  fist  led  for 
his  ugly  jaw.  He  sprang  back  with  a  look  of 
fear  in  his  dark  face,  but,  seeing  who  the  aggres 
sor  was,  pressed  up. 

"Oho,  the  damned  fiddler!"  he  exclaimed. 
Then  he  indulged  in  a  spasm  of  rage,  "  I'll  have 
you  put  out;  I'll  show  you  a  thing  or  two.  Hey, 
porter,"  he  bawled  to  a  stout  giant,  "  fire  this 
fiddler  here  into  the  street;  he's  raising  a  disturb 
ance  in  the  Pantheon." 

Hazard's  foot  slipped  on  the  mosaic  floor  and 
he  went  down  before  the  clerk's  assault.  But  he 
was  up  again  and  had  attacked,  when  the  stal 
wart  porter  seized  him  by  the  shoulders  from 
behind  and  slid  him  across  the  glazed  mosaic  as 
if  he  had  been  a  cake  of  ice. 

Suddenly  the  process  of  ejectment  ceased.  Haz 
ard,  freed  from  hands,  turned  about  to  find 
Quarles,  quiet  and  big,  nearby. 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"What  is  it,  Ned?" 

"  That  clerk  there,"  Hazard  pointed,  his  breath 
half  gone,  "  insulted  Miss  Vantage  the  worst  way 
a  woman  can  be  insulted.  I  hit  him  and  he  was 
having  me  put  out." 

Quarles  spoke  to  the  porter.  "  Look  here,  this 
is  not  your  row.  Walk  oft."  The  porter  seemed 
glad  of  the  excuse. 

"  This  is  so?  "  Quarles  looked  to  the  Duchess. 
She  could  not  speak  or  nod.  He  took  a  step  to 
wards  the  clerk. 

"  Mr.  Quarles,  sir,  Mr.  Quarles,"  quavered 
Loye,  holding  up  his  shaking  hands  somewhere 
near  his  face. 

But  Quarles  drove  his  great  fist  relentlessly  and 
Loye  fell  like  a  polled  ox.  Then  he  kicked  the 
carcass  ten  feet  across  the  lobby  with  one  swing 
of  that  leg  that  had  done  famous  execution  once 
on  foot-ball  fields. 

There  was  not  a  sound.  Miss  Doty's  head  was 
held  close  to  her  books.  The  bell-boys  stood  like 
wooden  images,  while  hop  Dubbin,  peering  round 
a  pillar,  grinned  in  impartial  delight  at  the  row 
he  had  stirred  up. 

"  Get  me  a  carriage,  quick!  "  Quarles  ordered 
of  the  porter. 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Close  up  at  once,"  he  bade  the  Duchess,  "  and 
take  all  your  things.  You  get  out  of  this  to-night 
for  good." 

She  faltered  a  word;  but  the  mastery  of  his 
look  passed  through  her  like  a  fear,  and  she 
obeyed.  While  she  counted  the  money  and  locked 
the  cases  fast,  he  strode  up  and  down  before  the 
stand,  his  hands  clasped  behind  his  back,  his  brow 
cleft  vertically.  Even  Hazard  preferred  the  back 
ground. 

He  was  like  a  sentinel  on  guard,  the  Duchess 
felt,  glancing  covertly  while  she  worked.  Naught 
could  pass  him.  She  exulted :  How  strong  he  was ! 
What  vengeance  he  did  take  upon  her  persecutors ! 
— Ah,  but  to  nestle  in  the  hollow  of  his  arm. 

Quarles  had  lifted  the  Duchess  into  the  car 
riage.  With  his  foot  upon  the  step  he  said  to  the 
musician:  "Here's  the  key  to  my  garret,  and 
stay  till  I  get  there.  Help  yourself  to  the  de 
canter;  you  know  where  tobacco's  to  be  found." 


315 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

THE  DUCHESS  OWNS  A  MASTER. 

1AM  sorry  you  appeared  at  the  Pantheon  to* 
night.  But  it  was  my  fault,  I  should  have 
prevented  you."  Quarles  spoke  as  with  author- 
ity;  he  strove  to  render  his  tone  paternal,  if  he 
could. 

"  But  I  had  to,"  she  insisted  faintly. 

"  Well,  you  won't  have  to  any  more.  That's 
settled."  Conclusiveness  was  all  his  tone. 

In  the  carriage's  dim  corner,  fluttering  like  a 
not  unwilling  captive,  she  yet  needs  must  pro 
test. — "  But  it  is  my  living — and — I  can't  accept 
things  from  people — can  I?" 

"  Humph,  you  can't  accept  insults,  I  should 
say."  Quarles  as  usual  was  not  delicate,  he  had 
not  that  weakness.  He  shouldered  an  opening 
always,  and  in  this  rude  world  the  main  thing,  not 
too  frequently  attained,  is  after  all  to  arrive. — 
''  I  won't  have  you  in  the  Pantheon,  that's  the 
long  and  short  of  it,"  he  declared.  "  You  simply 
have  got  to  quit  to-night.  You  are  never  to  go 
back,  understand  that." 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

He  had  designed  to  impress  her  with  his  grav 
ity;  what  he  did  instead  was  to  frighten  her  by 
his  sternness.  She  fell  to  weeping  softly  to  her 
self. 

He  melted  utterly.  But  that  he  might  main 
tain  a  grip  upon  his  passion,  he  continued  to  insist, 
still  laid  down  the  law,  ostensibly  for  her  good,  in 
reality  to  keep  himself  in  hand. 

For  he  had  realized,  when  first  he  took  his 
seat  by  her  side,  that  she  was,  in  her  present  mood, 
like  a  big  child  in  desperate  need  of  comforting. 
He  had  but  to  reach  forth  and  to  take  her  in  his 
arms,  and  she  would  have  her  cry  out  on  his  shoul 
der  and  return  him  shy  gratitude  for  the  endear 
ments  with  which  he  consoled  her  forlornness. 

But  Quarles,  of  the  leonine  strength  and  heart, 
demanded  some  better  thing  than  tears  and  femi 
nine  susceptibility.  All  that  this  frail  girl  had  of 
the  finest  and  most  endearing  qualities  of  woman 
hood,  and  he  felt  that  she  was  richly  dowered  in 
them  all,  she  must  be  ready  soberly  to  confide  into 
his  keeping.  Much  as  he  longed  to  have  her 
yield  into  his  arms;  to  gloat  in  the  possession  of 
her  very  weakness, — her  enchanting  weakness;  to 
hold  her  tender  body  to  his  heart  and  interpose 
between  her  and  all  the  strokes  of  circumstance 

317 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

his  own  proved  strength, — he  yet  forbore.  He 
would  restrain  his  passion;  he  would  wait  for  the 
greater  gift. 

Meanwhile,  if  tears  were  dear  to  the  girl,  her 
privilege  of  sex  was  dearer,  and  she  was  soon  able 
so  far  to  suppress  emotion,  as  to  enjoy  contesting 
his  will.  "  Indeed,  Mr.  Quarles,  you  are  too 
kind.  I — I  couldn't  agree  to  let  you  do  anything 
for  me.  It  would  put  me  under  too  much  obliga 
tion,  wouldn't  it?  Besides,  it  isn't  so  bad  as  you 
make  out;  I'll  get  along  someway;  I'm  pretty 
used  to  taking  things." 

"  Then  take  my  advice — you  must  this  time," 
he  answered  tersely. 

"  But  just  suppose  I  won't,  Mr.  Caesar?  "  she 
pouted  provokingly. 

'  You  will."  His  abrupt  assertion  was  more 
grim  than  he  was  himself  aware. 

She  observed  to  herself:  "Oh,  he's  going  to 
boss  me  awfully  the  rest  of  my  whole  natural  life." 

Quarles  was  ordering:  "  See  here,  child.  What 
you  need  is  someone  to  tell  you  how,  and  I  pro 
pose  to  be  that  someone.  If  you  think  I  mean 
to  sit  around  and  let  you  suffer,  or  be  snubbed, 
or  anything,  by  Jove  you're  a  long  way  oft.  I 
never  will.  I'm  going  to  stand  by  you  for  the 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

rest  of  your  days  and  it  makes  no  particle  of  dif 
ference  in  the  result  whether  you  permit  it  or 
whether  you  don't.  You  can't  help  it.  From  now 
on  there's  nobody  can  harm  you  without  reckoning 
with  me,  and  as  for  your  battling  alone  with  this 
big  brute  of  a  world,  why,  it's  preposterous,  I 
won't  hear  of  it. — Poor  child,"  he  suddenly  ex 
claimed  in  an  outburst  of  tenderness,  "  you  sha'n't 
be  hurt  or  shamed  or  made  to  feel  badly  any 
more.  God  help  me,  you  shall  not." 

Next  moment  he  was  remarking  in  a  matter 
of  fact  tone:  "What  I'd  like  you  to  do  is  to 
take  a  few  weeks'  vacation  before  you  make  any 
further  plans, — and  then  I'll  do  the  planning. 
Now — have  you — well,  what  I  want  to  know  is, 
have  you  any  money  ?  Have  you  enough  to  go  on 
while  you're  taking  a  rest?" 

She  gasped.  "  Oh,  yes,  I — I've  saved  a  little,  I 
believe." 

"Sure?"   insisted  Quarles. 

"  Yes,  I  am."     She  laughed. 

"  All  right  then,"  he  declared.  "  You  must 
never  set  your  foot  in  that  lobby  again. — That's 
settled." 

The  carriage  was  drawing  up  to  the  curb  be 
fore  the  boarding-house.  "Expect  me  to-morrow 

319 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

evening,  Miss  Vantage,"  said  Quarles.  "  I  in 
tend  to  call  to  see  that  you  have  obeyed." 

She  waited  silently,  while  he  unlocked  the  front 
door  with  the  key  she  had  given  him.  The  door 
opened  into  the  dark  hall  and  as  it  swung  inwards 
she  stood  a  moment  to  say  good-night. 

"  You've  been  extremely  kind  to  me,"  she  mur 
mured,  and  felt  the  inadequacy  of  the  acknowl 
edgment. 

He  took  off  his  hat. 

"  Good  night,  Miss  Vantage." 

As  she  accepted  the  key  from  him  she  yet  waited 
a  moment,  as  if  something  still  was  wanting  to 
be  done. — Abruptly  she  stooped  and  touched  with 
her  lips  the  gloved  fingers  of  his  extended  hand. 

Quarles  found  himself  confronted  by  a  door. 
And  going  down  the  steps,  he  felt  for  them  with 
his  feet,  he  was  so  blinded  by  the  water  that  had 
sprung  into  his  eyes. 

The  musician  awaited  Quarles's  return.  He  had 
wrapped  himself  in  his  host's  bathrobe  and  was 
coiled  upon  the  divan  in  as  near  an  Oriental  pos 
ture  as  is  attainable  by  Occidental  legs.  When 
Quarles  came  in,  he  merely  nodded,  and  did  not 
desist  from  his  assiduous  attention  to  the  Turkish 

320 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

water-pipe  from  whose  serpentine  stem  he  drew 
fragrant  smoke. 

"  See  here,"  proclaimed  Quarles  in  his  down 
right  style,  as  he  pitched  his  overcoat  into  a  chair, 
his  hat  into  a  corner,  one  glove  across  the  piano, 
for  his  long-suffering  valet  to  find  —  "  see  here,  I 
want  you  to  stay  out  of  this." 

"Out  of  what?"  gasped  Hazard,  losing  the 
amber  mouth-piece,  much  to  his  distress. 

"  Humph,  you  needn't  pretend  you  don't 
know,"  swore  Quarles,  with  an  oath  or  two.  "  I 
want  you  to  put  plenty  of  clear  water  between 
yourself  and  Miss  Vantage,  that's  what  I  want." 

"  Is  that  all?  "  answered  Hazard  with  no  inter 
est  at  all.  He  nursed  the  water-pipe  again. 

Quarles  glowered  for  a  space.  —  "Wake  up; 
stir  yourself!  Hang  your  day-dreams!  I'm  talk 
ing.  Listen,  will  you?  "  His  look  was  truculent. 

"  I  can  hear  you,  when  you  roar  —  like  a  bull 
of  Bashan,  don't  you  suppose."  The  musician 
scowled  upon  the  impolite  disturber  of  his  rev 
erie.  "  What  is  it  you  want  me  to  do?  " 

'  To  keep  out  of  sight.  I  won't  take  any 
chances,  it's  too  serious  this  time.  You  have  a 
damned  way  with  women  and  the  best  of  them  is 
liable  to  make  a  fool  of  herself,  if  you  are  any- 


21 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

where  near."  Quarles  apologetically  explained: 
"  To  be  sure  it's  not  your  fault,  Ned;  it's  a  fact 
to  be  reckoned  with,  that's  all." 

"  Stuff !  "  declared  Hazard  as  a  matter  of  good 
taste. 

"  Not  stuff,  I  should  say,"  retorted  Quarles. 
"  It's  hell,  pure,  unadulterated  hell." 

"  So  be  it,  since  you  insist,"  the  musician  ac 
quiesced.  "  But  there  are  exceptions  always  and 
your  inamorata  proves  the  rule.  Her  use  for  me, 
you  idiot,  has  ever  been  small,  for  the  reason,  I 
suspect,  that  practical  futility  doesn't  appeal  to  her 
as  romantic.  Only  women  who  don't  need  to  be 
practical  regard  matrimony  in  a  cottage  as  a  holy 
estate,  you  must  have  remarked." 

Quarles  wore  a  confounded  look.  ''  Ned,  do 
you  know,  sometimes  I  wonder  if  you  haven't  a 
mean  mind,  your  judgments  sometimes  are  so 
small." 

Hazard  burst  into  a  laugh.  "  That  suspicion, 
Val,  is  worthy  an  unscrupulous  trust-promoter, 
legislature-buyer,  watered-stock-inflator  like  you. 
You  practical  geniuses  are  generally  the  victims  of 
the  sentimental  illusions,  it  seems." 

Quarles  swore  again.  "  But  you  ought  to  be 
thumped,  my  son,  for  blaspheming  as  you  do." 

322 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

"  Why  don't  you,  you  block.  You're  Ajax,  I'm 
Thersites,"  Hazard  jeered. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  Quarles  understood  the 
allusion.  Presently  he  asked  anxiously:  "  So  you 
don't  think  she's  impressed  with  you  a  little  bit." 

:'  I  told  you  once  she  had  turned  me  down 
cold,"  the  musician  snapped. 

"  Bully  for  her,  Ned,  old  boy."  Quarles 
capered. 

He  paced  the  apartment,  cherishing  in  his 
bosom  the  glove  she  had  kissed. 

"  Ned,"  he  began  exuberantly,  "  tell  me,  wher 
ever  did  she  get  all  the  traits  and  qualities  and  re 
sults  she's  got?  " 

Hazard  seriously  put  away  the  pipe.  "  You've 
really  got  'em,  Val,  old  man — got  'em  bad.  Do 
you  know  what  you're  displaying — the  insight,  the 
clairvoyance  of  love."  He  nodded  sagely,  squat 
ting  tailor  fashion. 

Quarles  took  a  turn.  "  I  suppose  I  have, — 
them  or  something. — But  I'll  be  hanged,  if  she 
isn't  a  lady,  down  to  the  ground,  Ned,  and  how  a 
cigar-girl  in  The  Pantheon  can  be  that,  is  what 
gets  me." 

"  You're  in  a  hopeful  way,  now  you  don't  know 
it  all,"  remarked  the  musician  drily.  "  Your  sur- 

323 


prising  insight  on  a  sudden  is  in  line  with  what 
I've  been  trying  to  tell  you  all  along  and  which 
you  wouldn't  see." 

Quarles  stopped  in  his  walk  to  look  steadily  at 
his  friend.  "  There  must  be  something  more  in 
imagination  than  I  imagined  after  all,  my  son." 

"  To  be  sure,"  said  Hazard,  with  superiority. 
'  Your  lady  Cinderella  has  the  faculty  of  nerves 
herself.  If  she  isn't  always  properly  au  fait,  quite 
up  to  the  notch  herself,  you  can  count  on  it  that 
underneath  she  feels  and  thinks  as  only  the  elect 
can." 

'  This  is  the  first  time  I  ever  had  any  use  for 
your  mystic  dithyrambics,"  remarked  Quarles. 

But  Hazard  did  not  heed.  "  Why,  she  surprises 
me  every  day.  Her  power  of  perception,  it  is 
fine,  it's  spiritual,  aesthetic.  What  do  you  suppose 
she  said  the  last  time  we  talked?  4  Living  teaches 
us  to  judge,  no,  not  to  judge,  but  to  discriminate.' 
How  delicate  a  sense  she  has." 

"  I'm  glad  you  think  so,"  approved  Quarles. 
"  I  like  to  believe  that  after  all  she  is  a  true  lady." 

"  Humph,"  snorted  Hazard,  "  I  should  say  she 
was.  There  is  no  parvenu  stuff  in  her.  To  use  a 
figure  suited  to  your  mind,  Mr.  Quarles,  the 
Duchess'll  wash." 

324 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Her    lover    considered     the     recommendation. 

'  That's  true,"  he  said.     "  I  learned  a  good  deal 

about  what's  real  and  what's  factitious  yesterday 

in  the  Farson  apartment."     And  he  proceeded  to 

tell  Hazard  the  story. 


325 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

OF  WHAT  ABJECTNESS  PRIDE  IS   CAPABLE. 

THE  air  was  delicate  with  spring, — false 
harbinger,  since  the  days  of  March  were 
but  begun.  But  the  tonic  quickened  slug 
gish  blood  and  persuaded  of  the  joy  in  life. 

Miss  Farson  in  the  flush  of  the  morning  sallied 
from  the  Pantheon.  She  walked.  Breathing  the 
limpid  air  and  drinking  in  the  brilliance  of  the 
sun,  she  regretted  that  her  father  and  herself  were 
to  start  for  California  that  same  night. 

Hazard,  emerging  from  the  tall  building  in 
which  his  friend  had  rooms,  sauntered  up  the  Av 
enue.  His  jocund  humour  accorded  with  the  vivid 
day;  for  in  this  hour  he  was  visited  with  such 
pure  felicity  as  rarely  is  vouchsafed  to  them  whose 
sensibility  is  too  keen. 

Light,  air,  and  inclination  conspired  to  produce 
his  mood,  to  which  consciousness  of  a  new  relief 
from  possible  responsibility  contributed,  no  doubt. 
Himself  free,  he  could  wish  others  very  well,  the 
happiness  of  his  friend,  the  happiness  of  the 

326 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

Duchess,  furnishing  reason  also  for  rejoicing  on 
his  own  account. 

Fatuous  dreamer,  self-congratulatory  in  the  mo 
ment  of  the  near  approach  of  a  responsibility,  com 
pared  with  which  that  eluded  one,  of  the  Duchess's 
estate,  was  as  is  imagination  to  reality ! 

She  saw  him  half  a  block  away,  before  he  had 
perceived  her.  How  young  he  was,  how  gay — 
his  beauty  spritely,  natural,  such  as  is  fabled  was 
the  faun's.  Desire  spoke  in  her;  she  madly 
wanted  him  for  her  own.  Have  him  she  must, 
she  cared  not  what  it  cost.  She  called  herself  a 
fool  for  having  quarrelled  with  him.  Was  not  he 
of  greater  value  to  her  than  the  indulgence  of  her 
temper, — he  who  was  more  than  her  caprice,  who 
was  her  passion? 

Some  imperious  implication  in  her  bearing  halt 
ed  him.  "  Good-bye,  Mr.  Hazard.  We  are  leav 
ing  to-night  for  the  Coast,  not  to  return  until 
May."  Her  eyes,  she  let  him  see,  had  flame  in 
their  depths,  her  cheeks  were  darkly  flushed. 

Did  the  young  life  of  all  her  vigourous  body 
silently  calling  out,  move  him  so  that  she  per 
ceived? 

Designedly  her  next  words  expressed  regret: 
"  I  am  half  sorry.  I  certainly  do  wish  you  might 

327 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

appear  in  California.  We  should  like  to  see  you 
very  much  indeed." 

u  Ah,  that  would  be  too  delightful  to  be  pos 
sible,"  he  answered,  unable  to  refrain  from  polite 
exaggeration. 

"  Well,  if  you  cannot  follow  us  to  California," 
she  boldly  proposed,  "  you  can  at  least  walk  a  few 
blocks  with  me  this  morning  in  Chicago." 

"  A  present  pleasure  is  superior  to  a  contingent 
rapture,"  he  responded. 

;>  I  am  on  my  way  to  pick  up  a  few  last  things 
in  the  shops,"  she  explained  with  the  first  sugges 
tion  of  reserve. 

They  turned  together  into  Jackson  Boulevard. 

He  remembered  the  first  impression  she  had 
made  on  him  those  first  nights  in  the  dining-room 
of  the  Pantheon. 

How  tall  she  was,  as  she  walked  now  at  his 
side.  WThat  voluptuous  curves  her  breathing 
bosom  had !  The  lustre  of  her  skin  in  the  reveal 
ing  morning  light,  how  clear,  how  dazzling! 

Moreover,  a  new  something  softened  the  fa 
miliar  magnificence  of  her  seduction.  She  was 
sweeter, — was  the  phrase  for  it,  more  womanly? 
Submission  informed  her  wholly,  made  her  gentle, 
made  her  tender,  imparted  subtly  the  quality  of 

328 


intimate  appeal,  which  the  eternal  feminine  simu 
lates  only  for  the  flattery  and  the  delectation  of  the 
one  man  loved. 

;'  Why  not,  why  not?  "  he  asked  himself.  "  It's 
lite  that's  offered,  the  sense-life  that  saves.  It 
might  make  of  a  futile  dreamer  a  virile  man." 

She  detected  his  temptation;  she  was  impatient 
of  his  hesitance.  Had  they  been  alone,  she  might 
have  thrown  herself  into  his  arms.  "  I  have  been 
so  sorry,"  she  impetuously  declared.  "  You  can't 
know  how  I've  suffered.  What  must  you  have 
thought  of  me  for  my  cruelty  to  that  poor  girl, 
when  above  all  things  I  wished  you  to  think  well 
of  me!" 

His  distaste — was  it  finical? — Partly  to  allow 
her  opportunity  to  regain  her  poise,  partly  because 
it  pleased  himself  a  bit,  he  preached:  "  We  ought 
always  to  remember,  ought  we  not,  that  those  of 
us  most  certain  of  ourselves,  our  station  and  our 
power,  can  best  of  all  afford  to  be  kindly  in  our 
intercourse  with  what  are  styled  inferiors?  " 

'  Yes,  I  know,"  she  responded,  striving  to  be 
meek,  but  sensible  of  the  injustice  his  stricture 
put  upon  her.  "  And,"  she  could  not  keep  the 
justification  back,  "  I'm  sure  I  would  not  have 

329 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

proved  so  uncharitable  had  not  my  father's  folly 
made  me  anxious." 

"You  should  not  speak  of  that, — should  you? 
He  is  your  father."  Hazard  spoke  like  a  school 
master,  in  a  tone  he  would  have  pronounced  ridic 
ulous  in  another. 

Miss  Farson  resented  his  authority.  Besides, 
she  objected  fiercely  to  being  damaged  in  her 
lover's  eyes  more  than  she  had  already  been  by 
reason  of  parental  eccentricities.  "  You  must  un 
derstand  my  predicament,"  she  protested,  "  what 
he  is  and  how  I  have  to  deal  with  him.  But,  in 
spite  of  everything  I  can  do,  he  will  insist  on  mak 
ing  himself  ludicrous.  I've  always  had  to  stand 
on  guard,  ever — ever  since  my  mother  died.  And 
that  is  why  sometimes  I  fail  to  act  as  nicely  as  I 
should,  perhaps."  She  ended  contritely. 

But  Hazard,  nicely  critical,  touched  with  prig- 
gishness  besides,  failed  to  estimate  her  right  in 
tention,  and,  if  he  could,  would  he  have  valued  it? 
She  felt  the  chill  that  he  diffused, — she  realized 
how  far  he  was  withdrawn  from  her  least  influ 
ence. 

She  lost  her  self-control;  she  was  not  used  to 
destitution,  and,  spiritually,  destitution  peered  sud 
denly  into  her  eyes.  "  Oh,"  she  protested  des- 

330 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

perately,  "  don't  be  so  hard.  A  little  mercy  will 
not  hurt  you.  Do  not  judge  my  character  by  one 
mistake.  Because  I  showed  myself  unsympathetic 
to  a  girl  I  didn't  know,  it  does  not  signify  that 
I  am  inconsiderate  to  those  I  know  and  love. — 
I — I — have — things — money — I  could  be  of  help 
to  anyone  I  cared  about.  I've  literally  been 
starved;  I've  had  no  one  who  cared  for  me  and 
for  whom  I  cared.  I  could  be  so  very  much  to — 
to  him,  if  only  he  would  be  a  little  kind." 

''  We  are  passing  Pattern  and  Patten's,"  was 
Hazard's  casual  remark.  "  Your  acquaintance, 
Mr.  Blish,  is  waiting  in  the  doorway  to  receive 
his  bow." 

She  stiffened  instantly,  flung  up  her  royal  head, 
and,  as  she  passed,  stabbed  the  clerk  with  a 
haughty  look. 

The  crestfallen  Blish,  who  had  prepared  him 
self  to  return  a  Grand  Opera  salute,  fled  within. 
"  Ha,  ha!  "  cackled  Colonel  Patten,  "  it's  as  diffi 
cult,  my  boy,  for  us  milliners  to  get  into  society  as 
it  is  for  the  rich  to  get  into  Heaven.  Personally 
I  don't  care  a  damn  about  either, — too  bad  you 
do." 

''  I  will  leave  you  here,  please,  Mr.  Hazard," 
Miss  Farson  remarked  coldly,  as  they  came  to  the 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

State  Street  corner.  "  On  second  thought,  if  you 
will  hail  that  hansom  for  me. — Thank  you." 

She  stepped  into  the  vehicle  and  leaned  back 
with  relief.  He  raised  his  hand  to  lift  his  hat, 
when  she  bent  forward  to  speak.  "  Mr.  Hazard," 
she  said  acidly,  "  the  truth  about  you  is  you  fancy 
you  are  vastly  benevolent,  when  in  reality  you  love 
only  yourself.  I  hope  some  day  you  may  find  that 
woman  of  flawless  soul  and  faultless  taste  match 
ing  your  own  impeccability.  I  hope  so,  but  I 
doubt  it." 

She  left  him  standing  at  the  corner,  his  mind  a 
trifle  dazed. 

No,  he  meditated,  he  was  not  "strenuous,"  if 
that  was  what  she  meant.  He  could  not  fancy 
himself  entirely  committed  to  any  one  thing, — to 
love,  for  instance.  He  was  not  like  Quarles,  the 
very  frailties  of  whose  mistress  endeared  her  to 
him  but  the  more. 

Perhaps  for  a  disciple  of  Walt  Whitman  he 
was  indeed  too  finical.  He  had  the  Brahmin 
habit  of  New  England,  the  taking  of  too  fine  ex 
ceptions.  Yet,  however  catholic  his  sympathy,  for 
the  life  of  him  he  could  not  excuse  a  manner. 
What  she  had  dared  had  not  excited  objection  in 

332 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

his    breast, — it   was   her   way   of    doing    it   had 
alienated  him. 

Marie  Antoinette  had  laid  her  delicate  neck 
under  the  sharp  knife  of  the  guillotine  as  if 
bloody  execution  were  a  mere  order  of  the  day. 
But  Madame  Roland,  heroine  and  savante,  with 
the  melodramatic  instinct  of  the  middle  class,  must 
needs  orate  and  posture  before  dying.  Hazard's 
theory  enjoined  democratic  practice;  his  instinct 
called  for  aristocratic  simplicity.  He  did  not  real 
ize  that  if  society  elect  the  fashion  of  equality, 
human  nature  will  revenge  itself  by  playing  Far- 
sonesque  pranks. 


333 


CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

OMNES  EXEUNT,  EACH  IN  HIS  OWN  FASHION. 

THE  faithful  Casey  was  at  the  station  to  see 
the  Parsons  off. 

The  grand  Alonzo  appeared  somewhat 
broken:  he  leaned  on  his  servant's  arm. — "  Casey, 
when  the  great  Napoleon  finished  the  stupendous 
failure  of  the  Moscow  campaign,  he  left  to  guard 
his  rear  and  save  the  host,  the  bravest  of  the  brave, 
that  prodigy  of  valour,  Marshal  Ney.  So  Casey, 
while  I  go  to  California,  as  the  emperor  to  Paris, 
to  recuperate,  I  leave  you  in  Chicago.  You  have 
ever  been  a  faithful  steward,  Casey." 

"  Sure,  sir,  sure." 

'  Your  reward  shall  be  proportionate  to  your 
deserts,   Casey.      My  life  of  vicissitude,   achieve 
ment,  of  great  sorrow,  approaches  its  climacteric, 
—I  have  not  long  to  live." 

"  Sure,"  assented  Casey  sympathetically. 

'  Therefore  be  faithful,  Casey,  I  charge  you. 
Vindicate  my  trust,  attest  the  sanctity  of  the  feudal 
bond  in  the  face  of  this  misbelieving  and  plebeian 

334 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

age.     You  will  not  suffer  by  reason  of  your  devo 
tion,  let  me  tell  you  that." 

Master  pulled  at  his  obstreperous  nose;  menial 
licked  with  oleaginous  tongue  the  corners  of  his 
lips. 

Somewhere  on  the  way  across  Utah,  Hazard's 
name  came  up  between  Miss  Farson  and  a  school 
friend  from  a  city  in  the  East. 

'  Yes,  we  used  to  know  him  very  well,"  said 
the  latter.  "  He  always  exhibited  a  delightful 
vein  of  eccentricity.  One  never  could  be  sure  of 
what  he  would  do  next.  And  so  you  know  him 
in  Chicago  ?  " 

"  Quite  well  in  a  way,"  Miss  Farson  answered. 
<(  People  generally  understood  he  was  of  good 
family " 

"  Oh,  yes,  indeed." 

"  And  were  kind  to  him,  although  he  plays  a 
violin  in  the  Pantheon." 

"  Just  like  Ned  Hazard. — Do  go  on." 

"  He  insists  upon  it,  it  seems, — refuses  to  accept 
a  more  respectable  position." 

"He  always  was  interesting.  What  else? 
Has  he  been  making  love  to  anyone,  or,  what  is 

335 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

more  probable,  have  the  girls  been  making  love  to 
him?" 

"  I  have  heard  of  some  such  talk.  He  is  very 
handsome." 

"  No,  that  is  not  the  word.  He  is  a  beauty, 
if  a  man  can  be." 

"  Of  that  there  is  no  question.     But ' 

"  Yes,  but " 

"  When  you  knew  him,  was  he  inclined  to  be 
sentimental?  " 

"  Dear  yes,  Ned  is  soft." 

"  So  great  a  pity.  Susceptibility  in  a  man  is 
likely  to  turn  out  vastly  boresome." 

"  No  doubt.  But  if  he's  spoiled,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  no  girl  ever  yet  gave  him  a  les 
son  in  unrequited  affection." 

"  Indeed!  "  skeptically.  "  From  what  I  heard 
I  fancied  he  did  himself  more  damage  than  he  in 
flicted. — How  dry  the  air  in  the  car  has  grown." 

The  young  woman  from  the  East  turned  to  the 
landscape  with  a  smile  in  her  eyes.  It  was  an 
other  chapter  in  the  same  old  story  about  Ned 
Hazard,  she  surmised. 

Quarles  took  his  friend  to  call  upon  his  fiancee. 
'  We  intend  to  be  married  six  weeks  from  to-day," 

336 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

he  announced,  with  a  grimness  that  was  quaint. 
"  We'd  like  to  have  you  stand  up  with  us,  Ned." 

"  I  will,"  said  Hazard.    "  I'll  see  you  through." 

He  envied,  though  he  would  not  have  enjoyed, 
their  happiness.  "  Don't  make  it  too  apparent; 
it's  too  much  of  a  contrast,"  he  prayed. 

"  Oh,  he  thinks  we're  silly!  How  sweet  of 
him !  "  cooed  the  Duchess. 

"  Humph,  then  let  him  try  it  on  for  himself," 
growled  Quarles. 

While  the  Duchess  went  to  fetch  her  jewel  case 
Quarles  expanded.  "  Ned,"  said  he,  "  there  is 
nothing  the  poor  dear  can't  have,  if  she  wants  it. 
I've  money  to  burn,  thank  God.  I've  bought  her 
a  house  up  on  the  North  Side  for  a  wedding  pres 
ent,  and  horses  and  carriages  and  stuff  galore. 
I'm  resolved  to  make  the  dear  girl  happy,  if  it 
takes  a  leg,  my  son." 

Notwithstanding  this  unqualified  expression  on 
Quarles's  part,  his  friend,  with  that  egregious  spir 
itual  conceit  of  his,  began  speculating  whether  he, 
who  scarcely  loved  her,  did  not  detect  a  quality  of 
fineness  in  her  invisible  to  the  blunter  sensibilities 
of  this  man,  whose  limitation  guarded  her  weak 
ness  as  a  grim  castle  its  soft  chatelaine. 

Yet   further  study  demonstrated  that  she  per- 

337 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

ceived  no  lack.  She  had  become  a  radiant  woman, 
and  Hazard  was  forced  to  own  that  if  ever  hap 
piness  dwelt  in  woman's  eyes,  it  did  in  hers, — rich 
content  of  happiness. 

In  fact,  joy  so  brimmed  in  her  that  she  would 
generously  extend  it  to  all  others.  '  Don't  you  see 
how  nice  it  is  to  be  engaged?"  she  demanded  of 
the  musician.  ;l  Why  not  go  then  and  get  engaged 
yourself?  " 

Quarles  approved.  "  I  say  so,  too,  old  man. 
She  has  lots  of  tin,  and  I  believe  in  that  for  you. 
He  thinks  he  is  a, — I  don't  know  what,  Elsie; 
but  what  Ned's  really  fitted  for  is  fine  gentle 
man." 

"  And  if  gentlemen  we  must  have,"  smiled  the 
Duchess,  not  quite  rid  of  her  socialism  yet.  u  I 
think  you'd  make  a  nicei  one  than  anybody  else 
I  know." 

"  And  if  I  don't  now  decide  to  become  a  gentle 
man,  I  suppose  I'm  doomed  to  finish  as  a  pauper — 
according  to  you,  Val,"  Hazard  challenged. 

"  Well,  I  confess  I'm  glad  Miss  Farson  has 
a  stack." 

"  In  other  words,"  retorted  Hazard,  "  you  ad 
vocate  for  the  sake  of  shekels  my  marrying  a  cat." 

33* 


Duchess  of  P'ew  Clothes 

He  smiled  whimsically:     "  Is  it  your  wish  to  see 
me  regularly  clawed?" 

"  See  here,  Ned,"  Quarles  in  seriousness  inter 
posed,  "  the  truth  is  she  loves  you.  I  have  known 
her  a  long  time  and  the  only  difficulty  about  her 
is  that  she  never  cared  a  snap  of  her  fingers  for 
any  man  until  now.  I  ought  to  know,  too,  for 
didn't  I,  like  a  fool,  spend  four  good  years  trying 
to  convince  her  she  loved  me?  " 

"  I  guess  if  I  can  forgive  her,  and  I  really  do, 
anybody  can,"  the  Duchess  pleaded. 

"  How  she  did  act  up!  "  the  musician  declared. 

"  As  most  women  will,"  the  Duchess  palliated. 

'  We   women    are    personal,    not   principled,    you 

know.      And  towards  one  another  we   are  much 

more  unlovely  than  we  ever  let  ourselves  be  to  you 

men." 

"What  if  she  did?"  said  Quarles.  "The 
prime  consideration  is,  she's  exactly  what  Ned 
needs  to  make  a  man  of  him." 

'  Which  is  exactly  what  Ned  always  will  refuse 
to  be  made,"  said  Hazard,  snappishly. 

"  Oh,  come,"  protested  Quarles,  "  you  aren't  so 
much.  You  don't  deserve  the  earth,  or  a  special 
saint,  or  a  woman  manufactured  to  order  to  suit 
your  exacting  taste.  You  ought  to  be  jolly  grate- 

339 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

ful  that  she's  foolish  enough  to  dote  on  you,  and 
it  won't  hurt  you  a  whit,  if,  instead  of  shilly-shally 
ing  around,  you  settle  down  to  see  if  you  can't 
just  make  her  happy." 

"  Now  hush !  "  Slim  fingers  sealed  Quarles's 
lips.  "  Just  the  same,  it  was  good  for  you — what 
he  said."  She  sagely  nodded  to  Hazard. 

"  Please,   Elsie,"  prayed  Quarles. 

'  Yes,  but  don't  be  a  brute,"  she  permitted. 

"  This  is  reciprocity,"  Quarles  smiled.  ''  If 
Ned  hadn't  shown  me,  I  might  never  have  stopped 
long  enough  to  learn  about  you,  Elsie.  Now  I 
want  him  to  take  my  word  as  T  took  his.  Genevra 
Farson  is  the  woman  for  you,  my  son.  You  will 
make  the  mistake  of  your  life,  if  you  let  her  slip." 

But  Hazard  shook  his  head.  These  two  friends 
of  his,  with  their  faith  in  life,  their  courage  of 
love,  might  be  more  veracious  than  himself,  at 
least  better  fitted  to  survive,  but  they  did  not  ap 
prehend,  they  were  not  idealists. 

True,  as  partly  he  realized  himself,  his  idealism 
was  indefinite.  Whither  it  was  directed,  to  ex 
actly  what  cause  it  was  devoted,  might  have  some 
what  troubled  him  to  explain ;  but  its  vagueness 
rendered  it  the  sweeter,  its  nebulosity,  more  radi 
ant.  He  was  prepared  to  adhere  to  it  heroically, 

340 


Duchess  of  Few  Clothes 

to  eschew  comfort,  to  defy  fortune.  His  dream 
might  be  esteemed  folly  in  Chicago;  but  such 
folly  he  preferred  to  the  shrewdness  of  Valentine 
Quarles. 

The  Duchess  knew  a  deeper  wisdom.  "  Let 
him  alone,"  she  said  to  Quarles,  "  he  will  come 
round.  When  he  finds  how  much  love  means  and 
how  seldom  one  is  loved,  he  will  be  ready  to  for 
give  her,  ten  times  over,  all  he  thinks  he  can't  for 
give  her  now." 

Finis. 


A     000  128  724     2 


